


Red light Co.

by Trenchcoatman



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Dare, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Humor, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Philosophy, Romance, Slow Burn, Trust Issues, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 23:06:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13445322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trenchcoatman/pseuds/Trenchcoatman
Summary: Anything for a price. Want information? Want to investigate the murders of your pet puppy or grandma? Call the Red Light for their services.The red headed man, and his more than quiet sidekick are always ready to do anything. For a price, of course.A darker, more detective noir version AU, written from mainly Torchwick's POV. May be narrated from the other cast members, seeing how drunk I get.





	1. Orange

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pilot chapter. See my mood before whether or not it gest continued.

Everything lived based on accident, reproduces based on its fear to die, and dies based on its own stupidity and carelessness. 

Well. That certainly seemed true tonight. In fact, I think I was more than a little fucked at the moment. “Fucking cock, damn it!!” I hissed in pain, as I clutched my injured shoulder, feeling more and more of my crimson life blood drain out of me, making a pool on my white coat. Fucking perfect. Now not only was I bleeding, but my coat was ruined. Like really. I doubted even the Chinese cleaners down the road could get stains out of my coat. I quickly dodged behind the overturned table, gasping in release as I heard the hail of lead tear open the table I hid behind. Above me, computers and electronic equipment were torn to shreds. Glass bottles exploded into smithereens, spilling their multi coloured liquid all over the tables and surfaces. I wrinkled my nose as a particularly foul smelling blue paste hit the ground next to me, eating a hole into the once white surface. At least that didn't get on my coat.  
“Hey lads. I know this isn't personal. This is just your job.” I called from behind my makeshift bunker. “And I appreciate that. But I promise you. All of you are gonna die if you continue to shoot at me, so I would recommend putting your guns down and leaving the room. Nobody gets hurt.”

“We don't negotiate with criminals, Torchwick!!” A rough voice called out. I took a chance, peering out from behind the bunker. The speaker was a well built man, with tan skin. Next to him, his lieutenants flanked him. One of them had a little earpiece like a security guard from a bad spy movie hanging from his ears. The one next to him had a red nose with a pot belly and a split face. He didn't need a random little earpiece. He looked stupid enough already. “Surrender yourself now, before you get hurt!! We have orders to kill, and we aren't afraid to do so.”

“Are you sure, tough guy?” I grinned, hearing his harsh breathing hitch at the sound if my taunt. “At this point I could do with just sparing all of you.” I brushed my overly long fringe of reddish orange hair back, pulling my cane up to my chest. Oh god, this mission was going horribly. I stuck my head from behind the table, and another barrage of bullets greeted me, ricocheting off the ground and nearby walls. A nearby shelf exploded, sending splinters on me. Bottles of reinforced glass came tumbling down, sending their white and purple contents in a bubbling frenzy. A nearby skeleton, propped up on a wheeled display, fell over next to me, a bullet in its skull. I instinctively threw my head back, and I felt a bullet whiz past my head, shooting off my bowler hat. Fuck. Now not only was my coat ruined, so was my hat. 

“Welp, there goes my hat. Right now I'm in the mood to kill you. And your wives and children. Not before I've fucked them, of course.” I called out, snickering. “Or maybe after I've killed them. Who knows? Maybe it will be like fucking a sleeping girl. Any of you guys done that before?” I laughed, mad as a hatter. 

“You are dead!!” Earpiece roared, no longer having his boss’s patience to deal with my shit. “You hear me, you sick piece of shit!? You are dead!! I'll pull you limb from limb-”

It may have been presumptuous for me to be worried about a hole or two in my clothes, considering the fact that I was fighting for my life. A single slip up, and I would probably have complimentary holes in my chest and head. But then again, I was a man with standards. And shit talking. Both of which got me in trouble.  
I cursed myself for getting into this firefight. Neo was going to be less than happy about this, but I didn't really care. Right now, I was more worried about not getting shot. And more than excited at how I was going to kill these schmucks. 

“Roman.” my intercom buzzed. 

“Guten tag. What's up, babe?” I brought my hands up to the earpiece, actuating it. I smirked cheekily, twisting to the side and scouting the scenario. The three guards that cornered me had been joined by three more. That made six. They were trying to do a split attack maneuver, two parties of three surrounding me in a pincer formation. I took out my scroll, and a video image of my boss appeared, in all her D-cupped glory.  
“Where are you?” Cinder asked, her voice calm and flat. I knew she was pissed though. She was always calm and monotonous when she was most angry. Like right now. 

“I'll tell you.” I responded, winking at her, looking at her boobs more than anything. Which wasn't difficult, they took up more than half the lower part of the screen. “But you gotta promise, you won't get mad.”  
“My eyes are up here, torchwick,” she sighed, and I heard a strain in her voice. “And where the hell are you?”

“You gotta promise first.” I grinned, picking up a fallen bottle on the floor. Inside, a clear liquid hissed at the sides of the glass. I could hear the men approaching me from a few meters away, wary. In roughly forty-five seconds, they would be on my ass. 

“Liquid Nitrogen.” I read, skimming through the labels. It was only toxic? Lame. 

I put the bottle down as quietly as I could, picking up another one, containing a small amount of white powder. 

‘SOLID WHITE DUST. 7 GRAMS. HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE / FLAMMABLE / TOXIC / CARCINOGENIC’ The container read. I grinned. This was more of my business. It was time for an escape plan. 

“Cinder. Gonna talk to you later.” I told my boss, tucking my scroll back into my pocket. “I have some idiots to kill.”

“We aren't finished, Torchwick-”

“What's that? Bzzt bzzt-” I made some weird noises with my lips. “I can't hear you. I think the Internet is down. And I don't wanna burst my monthly data. Got to go.”

“Scrolls don't even use Internet!!-” I quickly turned off the call. Yeesh. I would deal with her later. I looked at the bottle of white powder in my hand. I had roughly ten seconds or less before the guards got me. I had to plan this perfectly. 

Not that I had a plan of course. It was a Roman Torchwick® plan. It involved me making up the plan as I got along. On the strategy level, if the Trojan horse was a 10, and Hitler attacking Russia in the winter without packing enough thermal sweaters being a 1, this plan was a 0. Or a negative. But it was my plan. And sometimes, that was all I needed. 

“Hey catch!!” I called out, grinning as I shook the bottle, before lobbing it out, into the center of the formations. The bottle spun, the clear liquid inside it churning and bubbling as it flew. I pulled off my coat. Time for some smooth moves. 

“Get down!! Grenade!!” The six guards panicked, ducking below the tables, trying to avoid the shrapnel of the projectile. I grinned. Perfect. 

Instead of being greeted by an explosion, however, the Nitrogen liquid evaporated the moment the glass container broke, spilling a thick sheen of white gas poured out, filling the air, covering the laboratory in a smoke screen. The six idiots were momentarily distracted, bracing for an explosion that wasn't going to come. A gruff, well built man, their leader, probably, immediately saw the smoke, and reacted.  
“Roman is using a smoke diversion. Shoot the smoke!! Flush that rat out!!” I hissed as the shooting renewed, barrages of bullets tearing the metal floor apart. I pulled off my hat, looking down at the fallen skeleton on the wheeled display, which was grinning as madly as I was. Well. It was time for this I guess. All or nothing. 

As usual. 

I pulled off my shirt, showing off my lean and toned muscles, and I tied it around my face,making a makeshift air filter. I guess 44 threads instead of 30 threads really made a difference now. I suppose having high standards did make a difference in this case. I really, really hoped the wheels didn't squeak too loud. If there was anything I regretted, it was ruining one of my many coats and bowler hats. I got ready to make a run for it. 

“There he is!!” The gruff man called from within the mist, as he saw a slim, tall figure dart through the smoke. The smoke was so thick, he couldn't see where the figure was heading. All he knew was that Roman Torchwick, the most wanted villain in Vale, was making a run for it. I bent behind the table, bracing myself as I heard six guns chatter in unison, pumping lead into the figure that wasn't me. The smoke was so thick, they didn't realise they were shooting a skeleton on wheels. A skeleton that happened to be holding a bottle of white dust in its bony little grip. I put my fingers into my ears, bracing for impact. 

The loudest, brightest fireball I ever heard in my life ignited in the small room. Holy fucking shit, that hurt. But better them than me. The room was flooded with a blinding white light, the sound of the the blast sounding like a blow of God's own six-shooter. Shards of glass buried themselves into the concrete walls of the lab, easily tearing the guards open. The ones that weren't incinerated in the initial blast, anyways. The two idiots who were too close to the skeleton but had opened fire into it were completely vaporized. They didn't have time to scream as they realised how badly they fucked up. The fireball ate into their flesh, scorching their bodies into ash, obliterating them.  
I heard two thumps as I darted out of my hiding spot. Keeping low, I scanned the devastation, watching the fires die down, leaving the room smelling faintly like burnt flesh. I saw two broken bodies lying on the floor, torn to pieces, not moving. Pieces of glass stuck out of Earpiece, lying against the side of a wall, blood splattered all over the walls near it. I guess that's what happens when that baby hits 88 miles per hour. That baby, of course, being a shrapnel of glass roughly a centimetre and a half wide. I giggled madly, breathing calmly through my air filter. 

I heard a grunt of pain, and I turned around to see the leader of this pathetic group of fuck ups. He was the gruff man, but he didn't look so tough now as he crawled towards me like a slug. Maybe it was because of these aerial borne neurotoxin gas, circulating around the room.Maybe it was because of the giant shard of glass buried in his back, which made its way to the front of its chest. Judging by the gurgling of his blood, I probably punctured a lung. I smirked behind my shirt, wrapped around my face. 

“Please… “ he choked out, blood dribbling to the side of his face, dripping down his lips. His hands grabbed at my boots, tugging at my black trousers. How the mighty had fallen. I smirked, watching him grasp at straws in his final moments of life. “Save… M-me.. Help…” He gasped, choking on his own blood that was trying to sustain his body. Ironic. Ha. Get it? Cuz there's iron in blood.

Ok, nevermind.

“I thought you didn't negotiate with criminals, tough guy?” I laughed, walking over to the door, making my way out. I could hear sirens, wailing all over the facility. Within minutes, the fire department would have arrived. Any security personnel smart enough to know the sound would evacuate before they got caught in the inferno. Or the inferno that was yet to come. 

“Please…” He whispered, a shadow of his former prideful self, and I laughed, knocking over a set of chemicals as I walked over to the door. I looked around at the nearby shelf, spying a container of clear liquid. Tetrachloroethane. Extremely flammable. Perfect. “I..i have a family.. I have a father.. I need to help him.. I have a father..”

“Who doesn't have a father?” I grinned, stepping over him as I coated the whole place in the pungent liquid. I made sure to add a few extra dollops onto his bleeding form. Roman Torchwick never left a job half finished. “I mean, except jesus.” I chuckled. I walked over to a nearby rack, which some white lab coats hung from. I frisked one of them off the side, pulling it on. I grunted in pain as my injured shoulder brushed against the white fabric. I ignored it. Neo would fix me up. 

“You son of a bitch..” the man whispered, as he crawled to me. “You fucking asshole!!” he finally screamed in desperation. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. I smirked, throwing the rest of the contents all over the shelf. I picked up another bottle of Tetrachloroethane, and took it with me, pouring it next to me as I walked out of the lab. His screams blended in with the blaring sirens. “You fucking… I hope you burn in hell!! You fucking cunt!!” 

I walked on, pouring the clear liquid behind me as I walked down the hallways. His voice slowly drowned out. I didn't stop walking until I ran out of liquid. I pulled off my ruined shirt from my face, leaving it in the liquid trail leading to the lab. 

I gently pulled out a cigarette from my trousers pocket, putting it in my mouth. Checking that I still had the thumbdrive, I smirked, chewing on the butt. I needed this, after all that happened tonight. Taking out my cane, I pressed a small button at the end of it, selecting the lighter option. A small blue flame lit up at the end of my cane, and I brought it to my lips, taking a breath of the vanilla scented smoke. I combed my trademark fringe behind my head. Without the conspicuous fringe, I suddenly looked like a normal civilian. Nobody would see Roman Torchwick unless they looked really closely. That was the good thing about dressing flamboyantly. The moment I dressed inconspicuously, I suddenly became unseen. 

“Auf wiedersehen, tough guy.” I grinned, putting the cane to the liquid. The blue flame ignited immediately, catching fire to the liquid trail, setting my path ablaze. I smoked my cigarette, and I didn't turn away to make my way out of the facility until I heard faint screams of terror and pain. Roman Torchwick always left a job completed. 

I wrapped the coat tightly around me, and I walked down the hallways, the murmurs and chatters of a crowd attracting me. I blended in with them, pulling the white coat around me, making sure my hair was combed back. I put my cane at my side, hiding it in my lab coat. Nobody knew what happened. Or what to look for. All they knew was that a fire had broken out in block C, and they had to evacuate. I acted bored, walking in sync with a few lab researchers who stayed on late. I kept my head down, to avoid attention. 

When we reached the dark field, I saw the inferno that I had started. The whole left wing of the building was on fire, a magnificent plume of magenta and scarlet that burnt into the night. The fire department had arrived, the red and blue sirens of the trucks flooding the night. Several men were screaming and shouting, using hoses to try and extinguish the red monster that licked at the buildings. People looked on, helpless, only able to murmur and discuss what they suspected had happened. 

Everyone was transfixed by the scene and the drama, nobody noticed a thin, slender figure, dressed in a white coat make his way away from the scene, towards the farthest security outpost. I stuck to the shadows, knowing nobody would notice me in the disorder and chaos. 

Did I feel bad? I had killed six different men back there. Maybe more. All of which had their lives to live, different stories to tell. And I had ended their lives on a whim. To tell you the truth, humans were like sheep. Raise them, sheer them for what they are worth, kill them afterwards. Their lives were meaningless.  
“Sorry sir.” A plump security guard got off his seat, as he saw me approach. “We are on lockdown. Nobody gets in, nobody gets out, until we know what really happened and we have a headcount-”

I pointed my cane at him, pressing the button at the tip of the curve. The scarlet orb that burst out from the end of my cane ripped into the guard before he could make a sound, turning his chest into a crimson mess. He flew back, smashing against the guard house's window, leaving a bloody smudge against the walls. He was wheezing as I walked by him, trying to get on both feet. I looked around, searching for another guard. When I didn't see another idiot to kill, I turned my attention back to him. 

I knew that feeling. The feeling of being shot in the chest. It was like all your breath left your body, and you couldn't draw in any more. It was like being punched really, really hard in your chest. The world would swim in front of your eyes, as the edges of your vision became blurry and fisheyed. You would spend a few seconds trying to figure out what happened, before noticing the excruciating pain in your chest, accompanied by the spreading pool of your own blood. The worst part of it all was that it happened so slowly, you actually knew you were dying. No matter how much you wanted to,l look away, your life would flash before you, reminding you of your regrets. Your mistakes, and most painfully of all, the best moments of your life and your time spent with people you loved the most. And as you died, you realised you would never see any of them ever again. And that would hurt more than the bullet hole in your lung. 

“Guten nacht.” I pointed the cane at him as I walked past, ignoring his hands, reaching out to me, trying to grasp at his last straws, clinging on to life. I pulled the trigger, sending his brains all over the tarmac. He stopped squirming. I smiled. A mercy killing, more than anything. 

The cool air on my scalp was an annoying feeling, I noted as I walked past the barbed wire fence. I always wore my bowler hat, so I was used to my head being nice and snug and warm. The cold air was a little more than a weird sensation. I ignored the sensation, though. 

As the inferno blazed behind me, I walked out of the facility grounds, turning my back on the seven dead bodies I had caused. Nobody saw me as I pulled my coat tighter around myself, walking out into the night, my body hidden in the deep shadows caused by the monochrome lights above. 

I kept walking.


	2. Orange

“Ow.” 

I winced as I felt a needle slide through my arm, sliding in between the skin of my flesh, widening the hole in my shoulder. I grunted as the cute girl in front of me smiled wordlessly, taking out a scalpel and probing into my shoulder. The pain in my shoulder was nothing short of excruciating, and I actually shuddered when she scraped the edge of the bullet. 

“Fuck, Neo.” I gasped, as she rolled her eyes, still smiling. She took out a pair of prongs and wiggled the thin feet into my shoulder hole. I gritted my teeth. Holy shit that hurt. With my free hand I took a swig of whiskey. I wasn't as into it as a certain old crow I knew, but the burning sensation on my throat helped me ignore the pain in my shoulder. Neo smiled, pulling out a small piece of metal, and dropping it in a small kidney tray next to the operating table, staining the cloth under it red. 

“Maybe this will remind you not to break into any private facilities, Torchwick.” my employer sighed, her voice sassy and annoyed. I grinned, as a dribble of blood slid down my forearms. “What kind of private detective gets shot in the arm on a private mission?”

"The kind that gets the job done.” I replied, smirking as I tossed her the thumb drive, which I extracted gingerly from the pocket of my trousers. I took another swig of my alcohol, feeling the burning spread to my throat. 

Cinder caught the drive wordlessly, pocketing it without saying a thank you. Cinder was my main employer, as well as my public relationship manager with the underground network. Basically, she was my pimp, many people used to say. Used to, at least. It was hard to bad talk about little old Roman with his overprotective partner's knife in your throat. Cinder took a small cut of the money from the missions I did, and she sometimes paid me for her own personal missions. End of the day, I got my money, Neo had killed enough people to satisfy her urges, Cinder got whatever she wanted, everyone was happy. 

“Still, I really wished that you didn't burst into the facility and casually kill all those guards.” Cinder sighed, taking the whiskey bottle from my hands and pouring it into nearby glass, taking a sip of the burning liquid. “Judging from the video footage I saw, that was Yasha. He was one of my bodyguards.”

“Was it the one with the earpieces?” I smirked, enjoying the way Cinder tensed up. My partner grinned, not speaking a word. 

“Yes.” Cinder hissed through gritted teeth. “I would really appreciate it if you didn't kill people I hired.”

“He was pretty trash. You can hire better bodyguards from Vacuo.” I sniffed, and Neo actually chuckled, a small, distorted sound that sounded like a weak cough. “Think of it as a much needed corporate downsizing. Silver lining, that is one less person that's gonna ask you for a pay raise.”

“Point being, Roman,” she growled my name like it was a piece of phlegm stuck in her throat, “I would appreciate it if you warmed me first before you broke into my laboratories. Like literally. You could ask me for permission, and I could just let you in to conduct your investigations-”

“Too obvious. Anyone could have caught wind of our plans and deleted the data from the servers, especially if it was a private one.” I responded, as Neo began to stitch me up, the needle threading through my skin with pinpoint precision. “Speaking of which, I found some rather sensitive Emails about your board of directors wanting to form a coup to oust you out of your seat. They feel you've been sitting there too long, and it would be better for all of them if you… Took an early retirement.”

Cinder raised her eyebrows, unsurprised. If I knew her well enough, she would have had her suspicions long ago. She was just using me as the final confirmation. As usual. 

“You've done well, Roman.” Cinder turned away, spinning the thumbdrive between her fingers. “Your money is already in your bank account. Fifty thousand. Pass me the bill for your coat and bowler hat, and I'll cover those, too.” she took a cigarette from my coat, putting it in her mouth. Snapping her fingers, she conjured a small yellow flame in her hands, igniting the stick. 

“My clothes got burnt in the fire. I don't have either. And I doubt even if I had them, that anybody could fix them.”

"Then I'm not paying a single cent for either.”

“Are you at least going to reimburse me for my cigarette?”

“Nope.”

“And here I was, wondering why people in the board of directors wanted to oust you out of power.” I smirked, as Neo finished stitching me up, cleaning my arm with a white cloth that reeked of disinfectant. 

“Rich people stay rich by being stingy. Poor people stay poor by giving more than they should.” Cinder grinned, inhaling a breath of vanilla flavoured smoke. “And don't get me started about the spirit of christmas, because we all know that's a steaming load of horse shit.”

We both had a good laugh at that. Neo simply smiled, and passed me my coat, which I shrugged on, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. It would go away soon enough. 

“Thanks neo.” I patted the short girl's ice cream coloured hair, and she smiled happily, rubbing her head against my rough hands. 

“Sorry to be the third wheel and break up this couple time you've got.” Cinder grinned, making me jump back and blush. 

“Neo and I aren't a couple.” I said, a little too fast. “We are just partners. That's all.” I blurted, quickly putting my hand away. We were more like brothers and sisters, at best. I was a professional private eye, and couldn't afford anything to affect the mission at hand. Neo smiled, and pulled away.

“Partners that sleep in the same bed together, and spent most of their waking lives living together. Yeah.” Cinder smirked, as she took out a file that was marked: confidential. 

“This is a mission I've got for you. The bounty is fifty-five thousand.” I opened the file, putting in between me and Neo so that she could see it. Inside the file, photos of gruesome murders were clipped to each page. I skimmed them coolly, ignoring the gory sea of dismembered body parts. 

“Was this caused by grimm?” I asked tenderly, looking through the file. The more pages I turned, the more body parts greeted me. 

“We don't know.” Cinder shook her head. “That's your job, to go and investigate. If you find the killer, and subdue him, it's fifty-five thousand.” Cinder snapped her fingers, and Emerald stepped into the operating theatre, her green hair swaying slightly. “If you are in, there are two first class train tickets headed for Vacuo at 3pm in the file.” I nodded. 

“I'll be leaving now.” I told her, pulling my coat tight around me, getting off the operating table. I flexed my arm, testing how strong it was. It stung a bit, but that was normal. Neo's stitching was perfect. She didn't stitch the skin together. She stitched the muscles and nerves together, which undoubtedly was much more painful, but yielded fast results. By tomorrow, my arm would be good as new. 

“Anything else I should know?”

“Oh yes. Meet the obsidian bird at one pm, Vale time, at Le Vounge C’lest cafe.” Cinder turned away. “He has a few.. remarks for you. Any last questions about the mission, Roman?”

“Do I have to bring the bounty in dead or alive?”

“Either or.”

“Dead it is.” I said, and Neo grinned.


	3. Orange

The cafe was a small, overfurnished house.

As I walked in, I could feel every square inch of my seal leather boots get cushioned by the fluffy carpeting, which was a dark black. Obviously, at one point in time, the designer thought it would make it look lavish. Sadly, it just look like someone spilled a lot of ink all over the place. But I wasn't here to complain. That was what the food critics did. I was here on business.

Besides the fact that the decorations were bad, and the fact that they served alcohol at nine a.m. In the morning, there was one more factor that warranted a visit.

Inside the cafe, the law had no hold on any of the customers. 

The cafe was run by the local mafia, who one day decided that instead of just renting out the cafe to grab a bit of extra change, they could actually use the cafe as a way to create a safe haven of sorts, for all the local scoundrels and rogues.

The cafe charged expensive food, which was the price to pay for safety. In all honestly, only their pork ribs were good. Even the beer was a cheap brand, bought from a twenty-four hour mart down the street. Which street it came from was a mystery, because the cafe had one entrance, and thirty-eight different exits, all leading to different parts of the city via a network of underground tunnels. They even had a train network that brought the customers who paid well to Vacuo and Atlas. 

I looked around for anybody that seemed to stand out. Stand out to me, at least. I was a villain around this parts due to over a few hundred cases of murder, petty theft and 'breaking and entering' charges. What I did was morally grey, after all. Vandalism and stealing and killing to get started the truth. But it honest didn't matter to me as long as I got paid. As I past a table, I recognised the two men talking. One of them was a faunus, by the name of tyrion. The other another monkey faunus whose name I forgot. They both hated me. Tyrion actually snarled as he saw me coming, his scorpion tail dancing wildly under the table, ready to stab a certain red headed detective. 

I smirked and walked past their table, and when their glares intensified, I casually flipped them the finger behind my back, walking off. They probably wouldn't dare to attack me in here. The protection from the law extended over to customers having petty disputes among themselves. The bartender, a big tough, dark skin bull faunus with tattoos all over this face more than enjoyed beating the hell out of annoying / fighting customers. His name was Deadfall, and it was a name well deserved. From the rumors I heard, he once punched a guy so hard, the guy's head flew off. Nobody wanted to dispute that. Nobody dared to, at least. 

It was a good thing he liked me. 

"Torchwick." he boomed, in his rough, deep laughter. "It's good to see you here, old friend. I promised that the next time I saw you out of the safety of the cafe, I would snap your neck. But its good to see you safe. Nobody got to you before I did!!" he laughed, and the glass behind him vibrated. 

Hm. Maybe he didn't like me as much as I hoped. 

"Cheers, Deadfall." I grinned, playing it cool. Even he wouldn't dare to go up against the mafia. "I'm here to see the obsidian bird. Is he expecting me?" 

"Undoubtedly." Deadfall chuckled in his booming voice, stretching his shoulders. His three-piece suit strained against all his muscles. If he sneezed accidentally while he was stretching, he would need a four-piece suit. "Farthest corner."

I grinned, a bit excited. I had no idea who my prospective employer was. It was always fun meeting new people. I walked through the tables, walking past the pool table, where a dark haired girl that looked too young to be here was putting the balls into the pots with unnerving accuracy. She looked pretty cute. I grinned. Maybe after all this business I would buy her a drink or two, and see where things went from there. I quickly focused, turning my attention to finding the obsidian bird. It sounded pretty hot. Maybe she was a lovely lady in black. If she was, maybe we could work another side arrangement out-

"Oh God. It's you. It all makes sense now."

"Yes, Torchwick." the man sighed, taking out a hip flask from his side, pouring it into his glass of cheap beer, mixing the whiskey and the ale together. He took a quick swig, and I winced as I smelt the stench of the alcohol from where I was standing. Qrow didn't even flinch as he swallowed it. The obsidian bird. Oh god. It was so lame. 

"Seriously. The obsidian bird?" I sighed, slumping into my chair. "Which self respecting huntsman calls themselves that?" 

"Which self respecting detective calls himself 'Red light Co.'?" Qrow rasped, his chin unshaven as usual. His black hair sat messily on his head, stylish and unkempt. Behind him, his sword-scythe sat, ready to kill anybody who annoyed him too much. 

"It's a pretty stylish name, if you would agree." I replied, a bit offended. "On the other hand, the Obsidian Bird makes you sound like a duck or something."

"Whatever, torchwick." Qrow took another swig of the pungent alcohol, the scent of it burning my nostrils. 

"Why did you call me here?" I asked, a little impatiently. Qrow was a difficult person to deal with, especially when he was being insufferable. He was an amazing huntsman, but was more than a little self indulgent. "Don't tell me you just want to catch up and talk about old times with a friend-" 

I barely saw him. Qrow burst across the table, grabbing me by my lapels in an iron clad grip, his other hand pushing the edge of the blade to my throat. It was a good thing my reaction time was still pretty fast. My cane was armed and ready, pointing at his gut. 

"Don't ever, ever call me a friend." Qrow rasped, his face a centimetre away from mine, the alcohol in his breath making my eyes water. "Not after what you did to Summer. I don't care if Ozpin thinks you've reformed. I would still slit your ankles open and leave you for the grimm if I ever got the chance." We eyeballed each other for a few seconds, neither willing to make the first move. Even the usually aggressive Deadfall stayed out of the dispute, pretending either of us weren't there. 

Qrow released my coat, and I put my cane down, both of us sliding back to our chairs. "So what's this about, Qrow?" I smirked, leaning back, gesturing with my cane. "Is it something to do with the cute girl behind me, pointing a sniper rifle at the back of my head?" 

I heard a small gasp, and I leaned back, relaxed. "Rookie mistake kiddo." I called behind me, twirling my cane. "Always aim for the back unless you can really, really make the shot. It does the same amount of damage, for a higher certainly of accuracy."

"Yeah." Qrow sighed, pulling up a chair from across another table, ignoring the dirty looks from the people sitting at the other table. "Have a seat, Ruby. Its time I introduced you to a... to Torchwick."

"Uncle Qrow!! That was so cool!!" Ruby plopped down next to him, grinning like a fifteen year old kid. "You were so fast, I barely saw it!!" Qrow grinned, patting her on her head. 

"Jesus, kid, calm down." I sighed from across the table, looking at her for a good minute. She was the girl at the pool table I saw just now. She had raven hair, along with pale skin, just like her uncle. She had silver eyes, though. Was she Raven's kid? Behind her, a conspicuous scythe stuck out, waiting to behead the next careless person who emerged from the toilet. 

"This is my half-niece." Qrow said finally, after I had a good look at her. So she was Summer's kid. Goddamnit. Time for some emotional baggage. "Ruby Rose." I wordlessly took out a cigarette and put it in my mouth, lighting it. I didn't usually smoke in front of minors, but then again, uncles usually shouldn't drink in front of minors either. 

"What do you want me to do with her?" I sighed, inhaling a deep scent of vanilla into my lungs, breathing it out. Ruby looked at me like I was some kind of predator, waiting for her to drop her guard before attacking her. Which was probably quite  
accurate. 

"I want you to bring her on the mission with you." Qrow grimaced, taking another swig if alcohol. "Or at least, Ozpin wants you to."

"Seriously?" I sneered, taking another puff of my joint. "You really think that I'm gonna bring a fourteen year old kid-"

"I'm fifteen-" 

"Yeah, whatever, Red." I continued. "-a fifteen year old kid along with me on a mission at fucking Vacuo? She's gonna die like-" 

Qrow shot me a death glare from across the table, his fist clenching around the hilt of the blade. 

"- a recruit in training day." I caught myself. "Has she even gone to training day yet? Beacon doesn't take people who are too young."

"Its Ozpin's orders. Not mine." Qrow growled, as he took another swig. His glass was getting more and more empty. "You think I really trust my niece with you?" 

'The niece that you love more.' I sneered inwardly, but kept a straight face. "I don't care what you think, or what Ozpin wants his lapdog to do. I'm not bringing a kid along to the Remnant equivalent of Mexico." I extinguished whatever was left of my cigarette by pushing it into the ashtray. 

"Well, I am under orders from Ozpin, and trust me, I protested just as hard as you, especially due to your history." Qrow finished tenderly, and my hand around the cane tightened. "So here's the deal. You take Ruby with you. You keep her safe, and I'll pay you an extra forty thousand."

"If I don't? Do you think that any amount of money will make me want to help you in any way, Qrow?" I sneered back, my hands resting behind my head. I looked him up, and he glared back at me, his eyes boring holes into my own. 

"I really didn't want to do this." Qrow sighed, taking a last mouthful, taking out his scroll. "Ruby, leave the room for now, please."

"Uncle Qrow-" 

"I said, leave." Qrow asserted, his voice firm and harsh. The small girl picked up her scythe and moved back to the pool table. 

Qrow remained silent, texting on his scroll. I looked at him. What the hell was he doing? 

My scroll vibrated in my pocket. 

"Check your scroll." he rasped, and I almost winced. Something felt wrong. My hand hesitated over the scroll, and Qrow looked at me, a cold look in his dead eyes. "I said, check your scroll." 

My hand wavered over to the buzzing device, before I opened it. 

"Hello?" 

"Mr. Torchwick." A gruff, deep voice said from the scroll. "We have Ms. Neo." I felt my blood turn cold. 

"I don't believe you." I said into the mic. "Neo can't talk. How do I know you have her?" 

A photo immediately sent to my phone, and I opened it hastilly. In it, a ice-cream haired girl sat on a comfy roller chair, tied up tightly. She looked unconscious, her head lulling from side to side. A white haired girl sat next to her, pointing a rapier at her throat, ever ready to slit it open. The man holding the camera was a tall, well built man with a buzz cut, which I identified immediately as General Ironwood. I hissed, rage taking over my senses. Nobody touched my partner. Nobody. 

"You didn't!!-" I turned to Qrow, my cane pointed at his head. "This is low, Qrow, even for you."

"Now now, I think you should put your gun down." Qrow smirked, in his most obnoxious way. "I think Deadfall is looking rather eager to join in the brawl." I turned around to see the hulking bull faunus, looking intently at me, waiting for me to fire the first shot so he could rush in and kill me himself. Fucking Qrow had tricked me. Wanting to see me alone, he knew this situation might happen. 

"Ozpin always knows where you are. If you don't accept having Ruby on your team, then... You'll make him rather annoyed. And when he gets annoyed, people get sent to jail for a long, long time." Qrow picked his fingernails. "Atlas is a cold place. You'll never reach Neo. At least, not for thirty or so more years."

I put my cane down. 

"Cinder won't be happy that Neo gets sent to jail." I tried, giving my best pokerface, but Qrow was too clever. 

"Cinder only cares about money. Pay her enough reperations, and anything is forgiven." He pointed to my screen. "You know what I want. Bring Ruby along, or Neo gets sent to an Atlas maximum security prison." Qrow leaned back on his chair, taking a swig of alcohol. "Your call, Roman."

I looked at the fifteen year old girl across the room, who was now throwing darts. I stood up, pocketing my scroll, and taking my cane. I took a pen from the side and scrawled an address on the napkin. 

"Send Neo to this place in thirty minutes time." I told Qrow, who looked at the napkin. I began to walk over to Ruby. 

"Oh yeah, one more thing Roman?" 

I turned around, and I saw Qrow's crimson red eyes lock onto me. "Yeah?" 

"We are alike, you and I. We both do terrible things for the people we love. If Ruby gets hurt, or God forbid, killed.." Qrow's eyes flashed scarlet momentarily. "Not even Ozpin or Cinder can protect you from me."

"Noted." I grinned. "I won't ever forgive you for this, you know that?" 

"I don't need you to." Qrow smirked back, and I turned and left the man to drown his sorrows in alcohol. 

I walked to the dartboards, and tipped Deadfall on the way out. "Come again, Roman." He grinned as I ignored him, making my exit. 

"You. Red. Come with me." I pointed at Ruby, less than happy about the whole situation. As we exited, I combed my fingers through my hair, pining up my fringe. I tapped my cane on my coat, and the holopixels on them faded up the resolution, turning my white coat into a tracksuit. My bowler hat turned transparent on my head. It wasn't invisible. It was just mimicking the background behind it. 

"So I'm coming with you?" Ruby asked, as we walked into the now crowded street. It was 11 am, and the morning crowd had arrived. "Where are we going?" 

"To an old friend's place." I replied, looking back at her. She was cute, Ruby was. She had silky black hair and a pale face, with two silver eyes, like orbs of mercury pooling gently in her irises. 

"Everyone who you called an old friend today has tried to kill you." Ruby noted. "Even Uncle Qrow." I groaned. Perfect, she had to be an insufferable smart ass. Just like her uncle. I flagged down a taxi, ignoring her. 

"After you." I opened the door for her, and she smiled and stepped in the cab.

"What a gentleman."

"Not really kid, don't flatter yourself." I replied dispassionately. "Just checking for booby trapped seats." 

"How often do that happen?" 

"Less than I would usually suspect, more than you think."

The yellow cab drove us onward. I looked at her, and she looked at me. 

"Hey, kiddo." I decided to break the silence. 

"Ruby-" She corrected me. 

"Red." I corrected her. "Do you remember your mother?"  
I looked away, through the window, trying to act nonchalant. Around us, people were playing with their children, laughing in a carefree manner as they frolicked in a nearby park. 

"Not really." Ruby replied, looking at me. I ignored her glances. "She died when I was really young."

"Mm." I grunted, looking out the window. Ruby changed the conversation to something else, like my weapon. I joined in, trying to be as interested as possible. She was nice enough. I just hoped that one day, when she learned I killed her mother, she wouldn't hold it against me.


	4. Yellow

I pulled the coat tighter about my waist,as i walked down the street. It was cold. It always was cold, this time of the morning. It seemed that the morning sun didn't want to even try to give its warmth, leaving every human awake at this hour shrouded by a penetrating chill. Taking out a cigarette from my breast pocket, I quickly stuck the slender stick in my mouth, before giving it a quick light. As its grey, ash filled fumes filled the air, I took a deep breath, inhaling the warmth and nicotine. The daily cigarette was pretty much an every morning thing, like how people enjoyed a cup of coffee. Except that instead of staining my teeth and giving me caffeine breath, it killed one from the inside out. 

“That's a bad habit you got there, kiddo.” Qrow spoke from behind me. “Smoking ain't good for your health.” He took out a side hip flask of whiskey and chugged it, capping the flask and putting it back into his belt. He looked the same as always, a red mid length cape, messy black hair, sword at his side, black trousers. He looked like he was always ready for a funeral. 

“So is drinking.” 

“I'm an old man, Yang.” Qrow smirked, pulling the coat about himself. “I'm gonna die soon. At this point, I'm not sure if the alcohol is killing me, or keeping me alive.” he laughed, showing off his perfect straight white teeth. He wasn't that old. He was only about his mid forties. He had thinning raven hair, long cheekbones, and an unshaven face that wasn't too hairy. He looked thirty five, but his eyes spoke it all. He was almost dead inside. Years of watching his friends and comrades die around him, fighting and killing. I was looking at a grinning dead man. 

“I don't want you to go. You known that right?” I sighed, as we walked up the street to the Huntsman headquarters, a skyscraper of glass and steel, galvanised with blue titanium beams. “That ain't your choice to make kiddo. I'll go when it's my time to go. But don't worry-” he smirked, taking another swig of whiskey. “That probably won't be any time soon.” 

We walked through the double sided doors leading to the headquarters foyer. “Weapon check.” The security guard, Jackson smiled at us. I grinned and flashed him a flirtatious smirk, which made him raise an eyebrow. Jackson was not the stereotypical security guard one would expect. He was tall and well built, with a broad chest and dreadlocks. If he wasn't engaged, I would have had a fling with him. 

We took off our coats, me more slowly and seductively than my uncle Qrow, earning a playful wolf whistle from Jackson, who winked at me. Qrow flashed me a look of amused annoyance. I slipped it into a metal scanner. I pressed my thumb print against the automated gantry, and it beeped, shining a green outline behind the glass. A receipt printed out from behind the edge, always almost immediately, always in a neat and precise fashion. To my right, I heard Qrow argue with one of the security managers. “What the bloody hell do you mean I can't bring alcohol to work?!” he roared, as Jackson appeared. 

YANG XIAO LONG. 

I smiled, picking up my daily name card and proceeding through the counter. “Just let him through, mate.” Jackson called from behind them, breaking the two apart and letting Qrow have his hip flask back. “He probably has two or three more in his office somewhere.” Jackson smiled, showing off a set of straight white teeth. I smirked, imaging my tongue in between those teeth. The problem was that Jackson was a loyal guy, and wasn't up for one night stands, as far as I knew. A deal breaker, if you asked me. 

The guard let Qrow pass, and both of them glared at each other, Qrow sneering and the guard scowling. Qrow and authority during mix well together. I always wondered why and who let him work in a government sector. The not so strange thing was, he was pretty much hated by everyone else, but to people who knew him, he was well respected. He was definitely a man of polarizing perspectives. 

“Well, I got my whiskey back, so that's always nice.” Qrow smirked as we walked through the lobby, our black shoes clacking rhythmically against the white marble floor. “Good to have friends in high places, eh?” 

“So you can abuse their power?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Why else would i have friends?” Qrow smiled, grinning so that I knew he was kidding. We walked down the marble hallway, passing by several operatives, dressed in suits. The lobby was somewhat bare, consisting of grand stone pillars, with a white marble floor. There was no paintings or tapestry, but there were couches, mainly to entertain outsiders.

A quick turn to the left, then to the right, followed by taking a lift. This place was a rat maze. Had I not been working here for five months, I most probably would have lost my way. Looking at the reflection in the glass elevator, I took in the view, hundreds of operatives working together, bustling through the early morning.

“Where we going?” I asked Qrow, as he smiled, taking a swig from his hip flask again. Alcoholism was in no way a healthy habit. Judging by how often he drank, Qrow must have had the hardest working liver in the entire organisation. 

“Welp. I'm actually getting your new weapon customized, since you broke your scythe last time. So I'll drop off at level 15. Meet me in my office at 930, meanwhile, go get breakfast or something.” He suggested, as he took out his phone, and started typing. 

“Are you gonna see Oobleck?” 

“Yep.”

“Can I come?” I asked, realising how much like an overgrown girl scout I sounded. “I mean, I wanna see my new gear.” I smiled, as Qrow shot me a look. 

“Hey, Yang.” Qrow asked, as we walked down yet another marble hallway. Seriously, whoever designed this place must have had a thing for marble. “Do you have someone you like?” Our boots cracked against the hard floor. “I mean, besides every guy in the building, who you have hit on, multiple times.”

“How do you know about that?” I asked, quickly covering my chest, feeling self conscious. I had purposely made sure Qrow wasn't around or was doing an outfield mission before approaching people for a fling or a date.

“I checked the cameras.” Qrow grinned, as we walked down the hall. “And I must say, I'm not drinking from the coffee dispenser ever again. Not after what I saw you and Mr. Kalios do with it.”

“Jesus!!” I grinned, pouting playfully. “What the hell man!!” I smacked Qrow on the arm, and he chuckled. My hand stung from the blow. It was like hitting a concrete wall. “This is an invasion of privacy. I could report you to Glynda at HR.”

“An invasion of privacy implies that you weren't doing it in public, on a printing machine that was vibrating. Do you have any idea how many outlines of your ass Jaune printed out by accident instead of actual documents the next day?” We continued walking, and passed by two agents, who waved at us. We waved back. The one on the right was pretty cute looking. The one on the left less so. “Back to my question though. Do you have anyone you like?”

“Are you hitting on me?” I smirked, and Qrow snorted. 

“Not likely. I don't go for little kids fifteen years younger than me. Or my nieces.” he chuckled, as we walked through yet another doorway. “But you aren't answering the question. You got someone you fancy?”

“Not especially.” I replied carefully, dodging around the issue. I mean, I often flirted and flinged with people, but that was only for fun, and only for people I weren't interested in. 

“I once knew a huntsman. Let's call him… Uh..Opal.” Qrow sighed, taking a swig of his alcohol. 

“Opal?”

“Opal.”

“What was his last name?” I asked, sighing. Qrow was obviously a bit too intoxicated today. 

“Opal.. Retive.” Qrow finished, slurring abit. 

“Did you just say ‘operative’ in a different way so it sounded like a name?” I asked, laughing. My uncle swore, and took another swig. 

“No. Shut your piehole, I'm telling a story!!” He pouted, looking like a nine year old. “Point is. He was an amazing huntsman. And his aura of confidence was amazing. He could ask any girl in the department out without hesitation. And the fact he was dashingly handsome helped as well.”

“As handsome as you?”

“Less so.” Qrow replied, a little disgruntled. “Point is, one day I ask him for tips. ‘How are you so confident and brave at’…” Qrow hiccuped. “Whatever you are doing?”

“And..?” I smirked. “What was his secret?”

“He was gay.” Qrow continued walking, wearing a straight face. “He would hit on and have fun with the ladies, and it was easy for him because they didn't matter. But the moment he talked to a man.. Wew. He was tongue tied.”

“Right. And this fictional story about a fictional character affects me because…?” I asked, squirming a bit uncomfortably. Qrow was smart. Deceivingly smart for a perpetual drunk.

We walked down an open glass walkway, three stories above another floor. Below us, operatives were sparring, using a myriad of gear. All the gear were blunted at the edges, so there was little chance of permanent incapacitation. Still, most of them packed a wallop. And in the hands of the more skilled huntsman, bruises and bumps were guaranteed. Below us, one of the competitors had managed to force the other to release her weapon, which was just about when she kicked him directly in his face. Newbie mistake. At some point, the type of weapons or type of fighting style barely meant any difference. It was all about strategy and timing, once you had reached the higher levels. The golden eyed girl pounced on the unfortunate man, and began triangle choking him with her legs, while she pounded his head in with her fists, her long black hair flirting with the wind with each merciless strike. A small bow on the top of her head swayed with each blow. 

“Damn. She's savage.” Qrow smirked, taking a swig from his flask. 

“Who?” 

“You know who.” Qrow smirked. “You've had your eye on her, haven't you?” He smiled knowingly. 

“She's just a colleague. A good looking one in fact, but a colleague nonetheless. Plus, we barely interact, I mean, sort of..since we are in different sectors.” I finished lamely, admitting my crush to Qrow. 

“Well. Some colleague she is. You can't seem to stop staring at her when she walks next to us on missions, or when she's fighting in training.” Qrow laughed, chugging another sip of whiskey. 

“Is that what you made me walk here for?” I asked dispassionately, as we looked down at the girl, Belladonna. “To interrogate me about my love life?” 

“Interrogate you about your lack of a love life.” Qrow corrected, smiling. He adjusted his cape, looking down at the operatives. “Well. Not only that. I sometimes like to come up here and admire the bravery and determination of those operatives who train today just so they can put their lives on the line of danger tomorrow. It's really quite admirable.” 

“Also,” he added. “I quite like shouting expletives at them and throwing things at them from this walkway when i'm drunk. It lightens the mood, I feel.” 

“You threw a chair at him.” I reminded Qrow, as we observed Blake smack another helpless opponents weapon out of his hands, before tackling him down and pummeling him with her elbows. Her emotionless face never gave a hint of what she was thinking. It was quite hot, in my opinion. 

“The guy was asking for it.” Qrow smirked. “Speaking of asking for it, why don't you ask her out?” he smirked, nodding at Blake, who was gracefully kicking the man on the ground. 

“I don't think it will work.” I procrastinated. “I mean, we barely know each other, and I highly doubt she's interested in people, in general. She always has her nose tucked in a book.” I thought about it. “Plus, we are in different departments. Her department is more like killing high level targets. Out department is more like investigating crimes.”

We continued our walk along the glass bridge, watching the other huntsman spar with each other. 

“Who is stronger, you or Blake?” I asked, out of curiosity. 

Qrow thought about it. “Probably me. No self flattery intended.” he quickly added. “Blake is strong, but she gets too reckless at times. I've worked with her before. I should know.”

“Wait what?” 

“Oh yeah. I was a high level frontier commando about five years back. Gave it up though. It was too boring and inflexible.” Qrow replied nonchalantly, but I immediately realised why he had given it up. He was sick and tired of the pain, watching his comrades die one by one around him. The guilt and pain was killing him faster than the alcohol. He had killed and seen his friends kill and die around him. It was something no painkiller could heal. 

“Still. You should try an aim for her, Yang. She's a decent girl.” Qrow continued, as Blake jumped at another unfortunate sparring opponent, kicking his legs from under him, before back kicking him with her other leg in midair. He landed in a painful lump. “You know, unless you are intending to spar with her. Then she'll fucking kill you.” 

“Noted.” I replied, as Blake threw the opponent to the far side of the mat. She was strong, deceiving strong for her size. She was a half head shorter than me, a head shorter than Qrow, but was probably faster than me. She may have been even faster than Qrow. 

“You know,” Qrow sighed, as he took another signature swig from his alcohol flask. Today it was a plain one, with the logo of Jack Daniels engraved on the sides. “Kids are always afraid to ask pretty girls out. But the truth is, nobody asks them out, cuz they are all afraid. Try your luck.”

 Qrow nodded, looking at his scroll. “Oh look at the time. Oobleck should be done eating breakfast. Time to go collect your gear.” 

“Oobleck even eats?” I asked, all the while not taking my eyes of the black haired girl. It wouldn't seem to work. We were just worlds apart, despite being in the same organisation, in the same building. Blake grabbed the final competitor in the queue, smacking him in the groin, before kicking his head backward. He was tall and well built, and he hit the ground with a thump, his weapon falling on the ground next to him. A bell rang, and the competitors dragged their bruised bodies of the unforgiving rubber mat. 

“You coming?” Qrow asked. “Stop mooning over your little crush you creep.” he smirked. “You can see her ass clad in rubber the next time we go outfield.” he took out his scroll, a old fashioned flip up. He was an old fashioned man, he had joked many times, before he slashed open his enemies throat with a razor blade hidden inside one of the scroll’s ends. He was not a good enemy to have. 

“On the way.” I replied, giving one last look at Blake before turning. Before I could, however, she looked up, her cold eyes piercing me where I stood above her. 

I gave out a gasp and blinked, looking carefully. It was as if she knew I had been there the whole time, watching her. 

When I blinked, she had disappeared. 

 


	5. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note to physics students, if a car is filling up with poisonous gas, you shouldn't leave any openings like torchwick did. This will set up a air pressure gradient, which will force more oxygen out of the car, resulting in you losing air faster, assuming the gas is denser than natural air.
> 
> But that's the nerd inside me talking. Enjoy the chapter.

“Are we there yet?”

 

The yellow taxi we were in cough and spluttered awkwardly, as we drove down the streets. It had only been about fifteen minutes, but I was bored already. To my left, Torchwick sighed, twirling his fingers around his cane. “We will get there, when we get there.” Roman frowned. “You are a fifteen year old kid. Don't you all have a social media account? Entertain yourself or something.”

 

“I wanna cut some grimm with my scythe.”

 

“And I want to shoot people with my cane. But obviously, I can't really do that right now. The first part of the training is to learn how to be quiet, Ruby.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“It's important, especially in reconnaissance missions. The enemy could be around any corner, and keeping silent is essential.”

 

“Ok.”

 

We continued in complete silence as we journeyed onward, the taxi spitting out smoke as it continued to take us to the destination. I looked out the window, and Roman closed his eyes, resting his head back as he mediated. 

 

“Are we there yet?”

 

I pouted, and he frowned. The taxi driver ignored us, making an old man noise as he closed the glass panel, trying to shut off our bickering. He had a cauldron belly, and a large, red nose like a tomato. I giggled, trying to imagine his nose on a breakfast plate. I was a bored fifteen year old, after all. 

 

Whenever my mind wasn't distracting itself with meaningless things, it would begin to wonder about the mysterious red headed gentleman next to me. I would, after all, be spending the next fifteen days, maybe more, with him and his partner. It was Ozpin’s idea after all. To send me with Roman to get me more outfield experience before he accepted me into Beacon. 

I didn't know much about Roman. All I knew was that he had a gun in his cane, and dressed eccentrically, but stylishly. He and Uncle Qrow had been friends once, I think. I wasn't sure, and I didn't dare to ask. Qrow said that Roman had done some terrible things, that cause an estrangement between their friendship. It was only under Ozpin’s orders that they still met and talked to one another. 

 

I looked out the window. The buildings had began to improve, as we drove on, rising up from the squalid dump of small shophouses and local bars, becoming tall skyscrapers of grey metal. A beautiful concrete jungle. To my left, an advertisement buzzed on the side of the building, flashing and drenching the passerby in a deluge of multichromatic colours. I winced, as a beautiful woman began to trail her hand down another pretty woman. The advertisement short out to black, and a small bottle appeared with a brand on it. 

 

“Adel?” I rolled the word of my mouth, unsure how to pronounce it. 

 

“Adel.” Roman corrected me, looking out at the buildings we swooped past. “You look a bit stunned. You don't see this side of town much, do you?”

 

“Uh.. No.” I admitted. “I lived in small town. I mean, we had movie theatres and stuff, but it was never as glamorous or upper-class as this.”

 

“Glamourous.” Roman whispered, rolling the word over his tongue. “I like that word. It just rolls so perfectly. Incidentally, so does the person we are supposed to meet.”

 

“He likes the word glamorous?” I asked, imaging another Torchwick, or a fat old man in a bathrobe, talking about his many creature comforts. 

 

“She is the definition of the word.” Torchwick smirked. “She owns all this. The shopping malls. The advertisements. She own over thirty-seven brands, all under her name, producing a wide variety of products, from perfumes to clothes to handbags to sports equipment. Everything you see in a commercial, including the camera, her companies probably manufactured at one point in time.”

 

“What are we doing, meeting a businesswoman?” I asked, as the yellow cab continued to drive on, whipping us past the crowded street. 

 

“Don't call her that.” Torchwick immediately said. “She hates being called that. She had castrated people, both verbally and physically, for calling her that.” Roman’s fingers played around his cane, spinning it. “We are going straight to her, because we need to get you new clothes.”

 

I looked at my white blouse and dark skirt. “What's wrong with these?”

 

“Besides that fact they look like something you can buy out of a street stall, nothing.” Roman fiddled with his cane, taking out his scroll. “But if we are going to Vacuo, we need to get you more protective clothes. Those..” he gestured to whatever I was wearing. “.. things are as useful to you as a paper umbrella.”

 

I frowned. “Do we have to?” I was gonna miss that shirt. It was a white blouse my sister bought me on my fourteenth birthday. Thin and white, and very comfortable. 

 

“You do know what Vacuo is, right?”

 

“Yeah. Uncle Qrow mentioned it once or twice.” I blurted out. “It's a barren hardland, isn't it?”

 

“Yeah. It's almost like a desert. I doubt that those clothes can keep you well conditioned. You'll be dying of heatstroke by the first ten minutes we arrive.”

 

“You are wearing a suit.” I pointed out. "You look more dressed for a social event than a desert trek."

 

“My suit is designed to be bulletproof to any projectile below a .75mm, has holopixels which camouflage me, temperature regulating, and is fire resistant, tear resistant, and most importantly, fully covered by a 2 year warranty.”

 

“You love to show off, don't you?”

 

“Ja.” Roman grinned, as he glanced out the window. “And, we are here.” I looked out the window. Beside us, was a skyscraper, a grey metal beacon of affluence and wealth that spread off the ground, piercing the sky. 

 

“She works here?”

 

“She lives here.” Roman grinned, pushing the door op- 

 

The door was stuck. 

 

“Hey, buddy.” Roman called, knocking on the glass panel separating us and the driver. “You forgot to open the doors-”

 

A metal grill slid across the window next to me before I could even react. Then the glass panel separating us from the driver. Roman immediately saw what was happening, and smashed the window next to him, using his cane. The grill slid across the window, pushing his cane to the side of it, unable to fully close. Roman grabbed the grille and pulled, trying to tug the metal grill open. I hastened to help, leaning awkwardly behind him and pulling with all my strength. The grill didn't budge. 

 

Holy shit, it was a trap. Never mind booby trapped seats. This was a booby trapped car. 

 

“Can you shoot us out of this?” I hissed, trying my hardest to pry open the metal shield. The shield was at least a half centimeter thick. I started to wish Yang was here. My sister wasn't the brightest bulb in the hallway, but when it came to punching things very hard, she excelled. 

 

“Too close!!” Roman pulled and pushed as hard as he could, his hands turning white from the exertion. “We will both die from the shrapnel . And the car is too small for you to wield a scythe-” he saw my intention as I grabbed crescent rose, about to activate it. 

 

The air conditioning made a small noise, and I turned around to see dense purple smoke pour out through the vents. 

 

“Roman!!” I cried. “Tug harder!!”

 

“What the hell does it look like I'm doing?!” Torchwick shouted back, noticing the smoke. The whole car would be filled to the brim by the poisonous gas, if we didn't act fast enough 

 

“Roman, Help!!” I screamed, panicking a bit. The gas was already filling up to my knees, and it was only getting higher. A few more seconds, we would be two corpses lying in the backseat of a car. 

 

“Ruby!!” Torchwick grabbed me by my shoulders, steadying me. “I'm going to try and cut us out of the taxi. “How long can you hold your breath?”

 

“I don't know.” I answered honestly, my heart racing against my chest. Roman looked calm, albeit for the dilated pupils, and that sort of calmed me down to an extent. 

 

“You are going to have to try.” The gas was already up to my chest level, and rising towards my neck. “Here goes!!” Torchwick put his face to the window, taking a last gulp of fresh air. 

 

Roman pulled out the cane from the window, and the grill immediately slid shut. Almost immediately, the dense gas began to rise, making me panic. Somehow, I managed to steel myself, taking small, controlled breaths, reserving my air as the purple mist filled up the back row. I heard a sharp, metallic scraping sound, and sparks were flying from Roman’s side of car, as he wielded his cane as a blowtorch, trying to cut his way through the car door. 

 

“Goddamnit.” he hissed, and I faced the car ceiling, taking one last gasp, the remaining oxygen I had left, just as the purple fog consumed the both of us. 

 

To my left, I could hear Roman struggling with the door, but couldn't see him. The purple fog concealed whatever I could see, drowning me in a sea of violent lilac. The cane gave one last screeching noise, before it fell silent. 

 

Roman!! 

 

I head a series of weak thumps, as Roman tried to break the door open, but failed to, each noise weaker than the one before it. I quickly leaned over, and found his warm body, lying against the seat, barely stirring. Quickly, I closed my eyes, searching for his cane. I didn't know how to use it, but at this point, I needed everything I could get. 

 

I puffed out my mouth, trying to buy myself some time as I felt my lungs ache, needing oxygen. Blacks pots danced before my eyes as I groped blindly for his cane. 

 

My hands found the sleek mahogany stick, and I almost cried out in relief. But the burning in my lungs quickly reminded me I had a job to do. A rational side of me told me to stop. I didn't know how Roman used the stick, and couldn't risk pressing the wrong button and killing both of us accidentally. But then again, we were dead anyways-

 

I felt my lungs scream in my body, desperate for oxygen. Each breath I didn't take was agony, but I still found it in me to push the cane weakly against the door, and press the button-

 

A sweet, sugary smell filled my nostrils, and I was momentarily distracted. What was that smell? It was like baked cookies. I quickly shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I had to cut the door open before we both inhaled too much poisonous gas and- 

 

Holy shit. 

 

The cane fell weakly out of my hands, as I struggled to move. I felt my lungs give way, my entire body relaxing against my will, as more and more of the sweet smelling gas flooded my lungs, spreading the poison through my bloodstream. I was unable to hold my breath, my muscles relaxing and working on their own accord. My brain suddenly couldn't function right, as my vision blurred and spinned, my sense of direction thrown off tangent. I tried to get up, but couldn't. The ground was a liquid now, absorbing me, pulling me under. 

 

I needed to escape, to get out of here, but my body wouldn't obey me. Slowly, my vision became black, as my eyelids dropped. Before I submerged into the oblivion, I heard the car door open, and a few voices speak out. Two deep, rough voices and a soft, female one with a hint of an accent. 

 

“Is that them?”

 

I tried to look at who was saying that, but found I couldn't lift my head. I heard a woman's laugh, and the car door slammed again, the sound resounding in my skull.

 

And like that, I died. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Red

“Hey Red?” A voice called through the void. “Kiddo. Red. You awake yet?” 

 

“Five more minutes, Yang…” I opened my eyes, stirring feebly at the sound of the voice. Who was speaking? The voice echoed in my head, making it spin. My throat was dry, as if a moth or something had crawled down it. I needed some water. Yang always left some on the nightstand. She wouldn't mind if I took some-

 

“Red!!”

 

I felt a warm hand on my face. Above me, a beautiful woman was gently stroking my hair. I looked at her, and she looked back at me, neither of us talking. Her hair was like mine, sleek and short, her eyes silvery orbs entombed in her visage. 

 

“Mother-”

 

A red blast blew into her, illuminating her frame in a scarlet glow. Her entire body ripped open, spraying me with blood and entrails. She hit the ground, and died smiling, the tear in her back seeping copious amounts of crimson blood. 

 

“Ruby-”

 

“Your turn.” A figure stepped from behind her. Pointed his hand at me. I couldn't see what it was, but I was pretty sure it was a cane-

 

“Red-”

 

I shot awake, panting. A cold sheen of sweat covered my body, soaking my blouse. What was happening? We had been in a taxi, and we had been tricked. The driver sprayed us with gas, and now we were here. Where was here, though? 

 

I couldn't move my arms. Or my legs. I was pretty sure I slept on them wrong, until I heard a voice call from in front of me again. 

 

“Ruby!! Wake up!!”

 

My eyes shot open, and my vision slowly focused. My eyes had been close the whole time. As my eyes got reunited with reality, I realised we were in a dark room, like an underground basement. I was tied to a chair. In front of me, Torchwick was chained to a wall, his hands cuffed at the sides of his head. He looked like hell, and I wanted to rub it in his face, but I didn't take the option. I probably didn't look much better. Above us, a small, bare lightbulb hung, buzzing feebly. 

 

“Are we both alive?” My arms were tied behind my back, bounded with thick black cables. In fact, my entire body was tied down to the chair, my legs restraint to the inside side of the chair legs in a parallel manner. The knots were like iron, and no matter how much I strained against them, they didn't seem to yield. 

 

“Either that, or we are both dead.”

 

“Oh god, I died next to you?” I moaned, sarcastically, straining against the bindings. “I had so much I wanted to do with my life.”

 

“Don't worry. If we are dead, you must be in heaven. ” Torchwick smirked from in front of me. “Cuz you just saw an angel.” he flicked his head back, trying to flip his fringe. All he succeeded in doing was tossing his hat on the floor nearby. 

 

“I think we are in hell.” I rolled my eyes. “Cuz you are here.”

 

“That's just plain rude.” Torchwick sighed. “Any luck with those ropes?” he pulled against the cuffs chaining him to the wall. They didn't budge. Nearby, a table sat, covered by a thick cloth, the only decorative ornament in the room. Below it, the brick tiles were cracked and brown, worn out. Maybe if we got out of our restraints, we could use that beaten down area as an escape. With renewed energy, I began to pull at my ropes again. 

 

“They are tied pretty tight. I don't think I can get out.” I finally called, after a minute or two of trying my best to strain against the thick cables. “I could try to use my semblance to get free.” I suggested. I closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling my body vibrate slightly. If I vibrated it more, I could cause the ropes to burn away from the heat produced by the friction. 

 

“Don't bother.” I looked at Roman. “I recognised the material tied around you. It's Adel brand rope. It's made of a material that has a heat resistant capacity of steel, and is made to be as smooth as silk.”

 

“So?”

 

“You'll never burn through those ropes by vibrating hard enough, because the surface is too smooth to catch enough friction. If it was any old cables, that technique would work. But these ones are too smooth and heat resistant.” Roman pulled against the metal bindings against his wrists.

 

“Isn't there way we can get out?” I pulled against my chair. “Can't you use your semblance to get us out?”

 

Roman’s face froze. “Righto. Uh, there's gonna be a problem with that.”

 

“Meaning?” I asked, confused as Roman looked away, his face a bit red. I looked at him, not giving him room to fudge around. “What's wrong?”

 

“Without melodic cudgel, I am just a normal person.” he admitted. “I don't have a semblance.”

 

“What?” I stared in disbelief. 

 

“Yeah.” Roman blushed a little, straining against the cuffs. “I was going to tell you that on the train to Vacuo, but the opportunity kinda showed itself now. I don't have semblance. I'm just smart. And handsome. And debonair. That's all.”

 

“No need for self flattery-” I rolled my eyes, grinning in spite of how hopeless things looked. Roman had that effect on you. No matter how much you hated him, you would smile at his eccentric antics. 

 

“Seemed like a good enough moment to state my attributes.”

 

“I suppose humility is not an attribute that you might have?” I smirked, relaxing in my seat. There was nothing either of us could do about the situation. Best to conserve energy. 

 

“Humility isn't an attractive attribute, its a mental disorder.” He laughed, and we both chuckled, despite the situation. 

 

“Where are we, anyways?” I asked, as a light bulb above us buzzed lazily. 

 

“I think we are still in Vale.” Roman raised his hand, showing a small cut. “Before we got drugged, I recognised the smell of sleeping gas, and I quickly cut my hand.”

 

“And..?”

 

“The wound hasn't congealed yet.” Torchwick explained patiently, as if he was telling 2 plus 2 equals 4 to a stubborn six year old. “That means we were unconscious for less than roughly ten minutes.”

 

“So we are under Adel’s house?”

 

“We are right where we need to be, yes.” Roman mused, looking at the decorations. “We must be in the express lane, because I don't remember having to talk to an administrator.”

 

“She's going to come down here and talk to us?”

 

“She's going to come down here and torture us.”

 

“What?!” I screamed, jerking against the seat, but the restraints held me down tightly, preventing even an inch of movement. “We need to get out!!”

 

“No point.” Roman smirked, as he lay, shackled to the wall. “Adel thought of everything. She even knew about your semblance. She's going to come down here to talk to us, and will probably kill or torture us at a later time, at her leisure.”

 

“How are you friends with her?” I asked, glaring at the insufferable man in front of me. 

 

“We are friends. I just may have forgotten to mention the fact that she absolutely hates my guts.” He grinned, and I sighed. 

 

“Don't you have a plan?” I asked, my heart ramming against the side of my chest, looking at the strangely calm Roman. He looked at me, quiet. 

 

“You have to try and interest her.” he decided finally. “It's our best chance .”

 

“What?!” I gasped. The situation must have been getting to Torchwick's head. He wasn't making any sense now. “Say that again?”

 

“Adel has a few flaws.” Roman looked at something behind me, and I assumed that the door was there. “For one, she's a womanizer. She can't resist a girl with pretty face. And you have a pretty sweet looking one.” I felt my face go warm when he said that, but quickly looked away so he didn't see. “And second, she is very self indulgent for an industrious person like herself. If you interest her enough, she might decide to set us both free.”

 

“Interest her?” I asked. “How?!”

 

“You've got to-” Roman cut short. “Coco Adel!!” his face bearing a sincere grin. I almost fell for it. From the small sigh I heard behind me, Adel didn't fall for it. I craned my neck around to try and get a glimpse of her, but the dim light in the room prevented me from getting a good look. 

 

“Roman Torchwick.” Coco Adel stepped out from next to me, her hips swaying slightly. I felt a chill run down my back. It was the same voice I heard before I fell unconscious. It was soft, but strong, commanding, with a hint of an Italian accent. “I did say what I was going to do to you if you ever appeared on my doorstep again.” she looked menacingly at Roman. 

 

I did a double look at her as she walked by me, towards Roman. She was stunningly beautiful. From the way he described her, I could have imagined a portly middle aged man, sweating perversely as he fondled reluctant girls. I smelt a whiff of vanilla from her conditioner as she strolled beside me. She wore a stylish beret on her head, every square centimetre of it seasoned flawlessly. Her maroon pinstripe jumper ended at a black corset, which perfectly flowed with her tight black trousers and shoulder length auburn hair, done up in a braid. In her hand, she held a suitcase, black and metallic, with a leather binding around the grip. 

 

“I must say, the reception here is rather pleasant-” He was cut short when Coco pressed a button in the suitcase. I stared, enthralled, as the suitcase opened itself up, a sleek barrel poking out of the bag as the sides of the suitcase expanded, becoming more broad and oblong. 

 

“-except for the fact you gassed us at your doorstep.” Roman smiled, acting cool as the barrels of the gun poked his chest. The gatling gun of that size had roughly a range of 60 to 120 meters of accuracy. At this range, Roman was mincemeat. I found it hard not to be impressed. He was staring into the metallic face of death, and he wasn't flinching. 

 

“I could kill you right now, Torchwick.” Coco’s voice, soft yet commanding, filled the basement, drowning out Torchwick's smart ass comments. “I should kill you right now.”

 

“I thought you said she was an old friend?” I looked at Torchwick, who was looking slightly uncomfortable as Coco pressed the gun against his arm, deciding which limb to blow of first. 

 

“She is.”

 

“She sprayed knock out gas on us when we arrived!!”

 

“She is an old friend-.” Torchwick insisted. 

 

“I'm not.” Coco confirmed from across me. 

 

“-She just wants to kill me.” Torchwick finished, ignoring what Coco said completely. 

 

“Do you have any friends who don't?” I sighed, straining against the ropes on the chair. 

 

“I sometimes wonder if I have any friends at all.”

 

Coco ignored us, trailing her gun down Torchwick's body. Her eyes settled on Roman’s groin, pointing the gatling gun in between his legs. “Let's start here.”

 

The barrel started to whirr. 

 

“Woah, mind the third leg, ladies love the third leg!!” Roman panicked, pulling against his chains. 

 

“Its less of a third leg and more of an eleventh finger.” Coco sighed, training the gun off him. “If you don't want me to shoot that little fishy off, tell me, what do you want, Torchwick?”

 

“Before we begin, I would like to say, it's more of a very large eleventh finger-”

 

The barrel of the mini-gun began to spin again. 

 

“-and we are here to get the adorable Ms. Rose over there some clothes for Vacuo.” Roman quickly blurted out, as Coco’s finger twitched on the trigger. 

 

Coco turned and looked at me. I felt her piercing gaze from across the room, as her hazel shaded irises pierced into my own. I found myself entranced by the deepness of the brown, a immersive shade of pecan, that threatened to pull me under. I barely held my gaze for a few seconds before I looked away, flushing. That woman was gorgeous. The air she had around herself made it difficult for anyone to look her in her captivating but haughty eyes. 

 

“Mm. She has a cute face, but I'm not interested.” Coco decided finally, after staring at me for what seemed like an hour or two. I felt my face flush at her comment. “She's free to go. You, on the other hand, Roman.“ Coco turned back to face Torchwick, who was still smiling, but I could see some panic setting in. Coco walked over to the nearby table and pulled the covers off.

 

“We have some business to discuss.” On the table, blades of every kind were lined up in a parallel fashion, from small, needle like daggers, to heavy meat cleavers. “And it isn't going to be pleasant, I'm afraid. You see, I was recently thinking of expanding my company into the steel welding sector, and we haven't really tested out the products yet.” She gave a smirk, and Torchwick's smile faltered a bit. 

 

“What is it you want, Adel?” Roman said, out of the blue. He looked quite relaxed, for a person who was on, or was going to be on, the chopping board. “Money? Power? Information on competitors? I could get it to you. Anything for a price.”

 

“Hmm..” Coco leaned back, a hand on her chin, pretending to think, her coffee brown hair gently framing her face. “How about I cut off your face, and we call it quits?”

 

“Besides that.”

 

“You aren't in a position to make deals right now, Mr. Torchwick.” Coco smirked, her hand resting on a rather wicked looking cleaver with a hooked end, that made me cringe back, my skin crawling. “I'm going to peel of every square inch of your skin, and make a Roman Torchwick rug for my office.”

 

“I wonder what the health and ethics sector of the company would say about that.”

 

“I don't have one. How do you think I became so rich?” Coco smirked, raising the knife, deciding which of his lips she wanted to start peeling off. Roman cringed back a bit. Suddenly, Adel turned to me. 

 

“Oh dear, where are my manners?” she grinned, and I felt a cold chill run up my back. She was drop dead gorgeous, but when she was being evil, she became even more beautiful, a thin, dark shadow covering her face, making her features cruel and sharper. “I wouldn't want our dear Ms. Rose to see such a..spectacle.” She took out her scroll, the latest model. On it, a small key chain bounced out as she punched in a few numbers, making a call. 

 

“Hi, Yatsuhashi?” Her voice was clear and cold, like a crystal in the obsidian night. “Could you come to the basement, and escort Ms. Rose to our restaurant on the street level? See to it she is served the some food, and get her a taxi to send her back home. Pay for the food and the taxi. Thanks.” She put her scroll away, and picked up a knife. Roman hissed, like a cornered cat. 

 

“Now, now. Hold still, and I may not accidentally cut the wrong vein.” Coco grabbed Roman’s face with her gloved hands, and held him still. Roman was strong, but Coco was even stronger, pinning the helpless ginger against the wall, restraining him. “I think I'll poke out one of your eyes for fun.” She smirked. “Eenie meenie, Minie, this o-”

 

“Is that Moon Mountain?” I asked, as a last ditch attempt to catch her attention. 

 

The knife hovered a centimetre away from Roman’s green iris, about to slit the brilliant green circle in half. To give Torchwick credit, he didn't even blink. 

 

“Pardon?”

 

“That's Moon Mountain. The figure on your phone key-chain. I didn't know you followed the Oykot ghoul series.” I blurted out, trying my best not to falter. Her cocoa eyes were piercing into mine. “I mean, don't get me wrong. He was a good character, but I felt that he could have had more character development. They didn't really explain his backstory well.” I finished lamely, looking at the austere woman, who looked at me, without saying a word. She most probably thought I was crazy. Talking about keychains when a man was getting tortured. With any luck, I was next on the chopping board. 

 

“Yatsuhashi.” Coco took out her scroll. “Change of plans. Ms. Rose will be staying with us. Thank you.” She walked over to me, the cleaver in her hands. 

 

I flinched, as she approached me, her vanilla scent filling the air I breathed in. I pressed my eyes tightly shut, as she angled the knife to the side of my neck. Carefully and slowly, she began to saw, cutting the bindings at my shoulders.

 

I looked up, confused, and Coco finished by cutting the bindings at my legs, freeing my lower body, than the bindings at my wrists behind me, allowing my hands to move. 

 

“You are going to come with me for a walk. Are we clear?” Coco’s voice was firm and domineering. “If you try anything smart, I will not hesitate to snap your neck like a pencil.”

 

I nodded. 

 

“Good girl.”

 

“How about me?” Roman called from the other side of the room, still chained to a wall. “Do I get to go as well?-” He shut up when the cleaver buried itself a centimetre below his groin, making him squawk. 

 

“Don't push your luck.” She looked at me, as I rubbed my wrists. “Come with me.” I followed to her side, as she put her arm around my shoulder. I squirmed uncomfortably, but didn't say anything. She had just tried to slice Roman’s face open, and now she was acting so casual it was disorientating. I knew it wasn't an act of closeness though. She was just making sure I couldn't run away. 

 

We walked down a hallway, the bright white lights making me wince and blink. It was a strong contrast dorm the dim room we were in. 

 

“Uh, Ms… Ms. Adel?” I asked as we headed towards an elevator at the end of the hallway. She pressed a key card to the scanner to the side, and the doors opened. 

 

“Yeah, love?”

 

“Uhm.. Where are we going, exactly?” I blushed, unused to flirting. Yang was the one who usually did that, not me. 

 

“The top of the building. The penthouse suite.” she smiled gently, and I almost forgot she was about to cut open Torchwick. “Only two people are allowed here. But counting you, that makes three now.”

 

She turned to face me, and I flushed, looking away, as the elevator rose. The lift was only four by four meters. It was a lot of space, but with her, it seemed like the walls were compressing on me, squeezing me in. 

 

“Ms. Adel-”

 

“Coco.” Coco corrected me. “All my friends call me that.”

 

“Coco.” I said, the word sounding funny on my tongue. “Why are we going to your house?”

 

“To get you clothes, of course.” Coco looked back at me. “You can't go to Vacuo dressed like you just got out of school.” 

 

“Uh.. But, I mean, why are you helping us all for a sudden?” I flushed, feeling her index finger draw small circles around my shoulder. The elevator rose higher and higher. 

 

“You interest me.” Coco finally said, after thinking. “You look like an honest girl, and if people were hits or misses, you seem like a hit, if I was going to quote a television character.”

 

“Is that a Rinfaf quote?” I asked, and she grinned. “From Ihsayabok’s dragon butler.”

 

“Damn right.” the doors opened to the penthouse, and we stepped out. Ahead of us, a pair of mahogany double doors loomed. Coco took off her boots, a branded one, with a small ‘A’ on the back. I took off my shoes, my eyes wide at all the designer branded shoes on the shoe rack. Any pair was probably worth more than my house. 

 

“I'm home, Velvet.” Coco called, unlocking the door. “Before we go in, I must warn you, I'm a bit of a.. Collector.”

 

We walked in, and I saw what she meant immediately. 

 

The living room was neat and tidy. But the whole room was jam packed with merchandise, kept tidily in glass cases, lined up neatly against the walls of the room. Figurines, posters, banners, key chains. 

 

“Woah.” 

 

“Its.. Rather.. eye opening, isn't it?”

 

“How much do you spend in all this merch?”

 

“Roughly 20000 lien. And counting.” I looked at the figurines in the glass cabinet, each one separated by a small glass wall. I spotted Moon Mountain, the eccentric supporting protagonist from the Okyot Ghoul series. Next to him were Song and Voorhes. 

 

“It's..impressive.” I stood, slack mouthed, trying to take in all the characters at once, as Coco took me by my hand, leading me to a nearby couch. I flushed as I felt her soft leather grip firmly wrap around my wrist. “Come here.”

 

I took a seat on a black sofa, which was extremely cushy. I took a seat, and the cushion engulfed me, making me sink further into the chair. The room was clean and sterile, with white walls that seemed to fit in a operating theatre. Or a morgue. Coco took a seat at the side of a beige sofa, which seemed more for two or three people than for one. I guessed that she left some space for Velvet. Behind the sofa, a vast array of weapons lay, swords, spiked maces and battle axes, attached on wooden masts against the walls. Coco reclined on the sofa as if they weren't there. I was pretty sure if the building shook accidentally, it would turn whoever was sitting on the beige sofa into a shish kebab. 

 

“You'll have to excuse the weapons.” Coco saw my look and gestured flippantly to the array of arms behind her. “I have my collection, and Velvet has hers.”

 

Velvet collected weapons? I felt a chill run down my spine. I hadn't met her yet, but instinctively, I imagined a tall, tanned Australian woman, with a buzz cut. 

 

“Do you ever use them?” I asked, my eyes trained on a wicked looking battle axe with a double barrel in its handle. 

 

“Certainly.” Coco smiled as she saw the look I casted on the blade. “They aren't just for show. Velvet trains with each of these weapons every other day, as well as oil and sharpen them so the don't rust or lose their edge.” she lay back, reaching around and grabbing a dagger, a thin bladed monster. “I like to use them on some uninvited guests from time to time.” 

 

“Uh..” I shrunk back uncomfortably.

 

“Don't worry, dear girl. You are very welcome in my house.” Coco smiled, quickly seeing the scared look on my face. “And we will get you your clothes soon.”

 

“How is.. Is velvet like?” I asked, trying to push out the image of a hulking woman, laden with muscles. 

 

“She's adorable.” Coco smiled, after looking at me for a second. “She's one of the most valuable treasures I've ever had and found in my life.” Coco got off the couch, and walked over to a nearby hallway. She returned with two cups of cold water. I thanked her, taking a small sip. 

 

“I could give her the whole world if she wanted it.” Coco continued, sipping the cold drink. “And I want to spoil her. She deserves it, considering all the hardships she faced. But she doesn't want any material thing I can give her. She just likes hanging with me. I like that.”

 

I took a sip of my drink, unsure what to say. 

 

“I see that aspect of her in you.” Coco continued, sipping a mouthful of her water. “You remind me of her, a few years back when I first saw her at a convention.”

 

“Uhm.. Where is she now?”

 

“She should be finishing her photography shift in three hours time.” Coco smiled, taking another sip. “She's a semi-professional photographer. Right now, she's working at a news agency, covering the new painting coming in from Vacuo. It's called the Red Panda's voyage.”

 

“Uhm, I'm afraid I've never heard of that.” I blushed, and Coco smirked. 

 

“Neither have I. If I can't watch it on an anime streaming website, it's not art, in my opinion.” she walked over to the kitchen, to get more water. “Do you need a refill?”

 

“It's fine, thanks.”

 

“Before we select your outfit, I have a question to ask.” Coco peeled off her maroon jumper, leaving it on the coat hook near the door. “How did a lovely lady like yourself get involved with Roman?” 

 

“Ozpin told Qrow to partner him up with me.” I replied, taking a look at the surrounding collectibles, from the figurines of the austere Michael Sebastian, to the blades casually positioned on the walls. “He wanted me to get some field experience before I started in Beacon.”

 

“Ruby Rose, was it?” Coco reappeared, wearing a white tank top. She leaned back on the sofa, drink in hand. “You are the daughter of Summer Rose.”

 

“Yep.” that was a statement, not a question. 

 

“And you still work with Roman?” Coco asked incredulously, taking a sip of water. “After everything he's done?”

 

“Why do you say that?” I asked, looking at her, and for a second, I saw hesitation in her eyes, as if she said something she wasn't meant to say. 

 

“Roman is a wanted criminal in Vale. And for good reason.” She finally said, her Italian tinged voice careful and lofty. “He has killed many, many people, been responsible for several terrorism plots, and arson.”

 

She put the cup down. 

 

“Your mother was one of the best people I knew. She was a huntress, a special operative agent. And one of the people who helped me when I needed it. Italians never forget a debt.” Coco said, taking a sip. “So I was a bit surprised when I heard you were rubbing shoulders with a known criminal.”

 

“Qrow said he had changed.” I replied, looking at Coco, who was looking increasingly uncomfortable. “Something happened, that made him see sense and turn around. He's a detective now, he saves lives and solves crimes. He's not the bad person he once was anymore.”

 

“Wish I could believe that, Ruby.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“He saves lives, no doubt. But the path he walks through to save them are coated and painted with the blood of innocent people who got in his way.” Coco replied morbidly, her hands clenched into fists around the cup. “He will do anything to get the job done, because human lives don't matter to him. He may have joined the righteous side, but deep down, he is still a sociopath.”

 

“Why do you hate him so much?” I asked. “You wanted to cut off his face open back there. Why? What did he do to you?”

 

“He tried to kill Velvet sixteen years back.” Coco said, with a small smile on her face, and I felt a chill run up my back, as I saw the ceramic cup crack in her hands. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Orange

“Well, I'm just going to hang around here, I suppose.”

The ice creamed haired girl in front of me smirked and rolled her eyes. Jesus fucking Christ, these chains were uncomfortable. It didn't help that I was also being hung a feet and a half of the ground, with two concrete block tied to my individual legs. But then again, that was the traditional Italian hospitality for people they didn't especially like. 

 

Still though, it wasn't all that bad. It could be worst. I would have been skinned alive if Ruby hadn't interfered. Italians could hold one hell of a grudge. 

 

Although, in my defence, I had a plan to counter this situation from happening, which was Neo. There was a reason I had Qrow sent her here slightly earlier. She was here as backup in a situation that me and Ruby got held hostage by the brunette fashionista. 

 

Was I scared when Coco was about to cut my face off like a slice of pizza? A bit. But what I didn't tell Coco, or Ruby, for that matter, was that Neo was hiding the whole time, in the darkest corner of the room, ready to stop Coco. When Coco’s knife had plunged down at my eye, Neo had more than enough time to disarm her in seven different ways, not counting the possibility of snapping her arms at the wrist. 

 

The hard part about the whole plan was that  Neo couldn't save me unless the situation was really, really going out of hand. I had put a lot of faith in Red being able to interest Coco, even signalling to Neo to hold off with my free hand when Coco was about to gouge out my eye. And it almost didn't pay off. 

 

Coco after all, was a proud creature. She couldn't be blackmailed, arm twisted, or threatened in any way to help us. We had to use Ruby to pull her into helping us. Even if Neo broke every bone in both her arms, I was pretty sure Coco wouldn't yield. To be frank, I had expected a few deep cuts more than anything else. But at least the mission went more than successfully. 

 

Neo tapped my jacket with Melodic Cudgel, and the holopixel resolution faded, turning back to a white coat. 

 

“Hey Neo.” I grinned, and the mute girl smirked, pulling out the cleaver and walking over to my side. With one chop, she cut my shackles off. Half my body dropped, which left me in a slightly more uncomfortable position than before. 

 

“Neo. I'm kinda more uncomfortable than before. Please.” 

 

Neo grinned, then she pouted. Her free hand made an arrow, flicking between us, then the towards me, then the door, then upstairs. 

 

‘Who is that girl?’

 

“Qrow’s niece.” I smirked, as Neo walked over to the table of knives, taking two or three and hanging them by her belt. Since she made the trip here, she might as well take a few of Coco’s trinkets. “Qrow wants us to take her on a mission, to get her more field experience.”

 

Her two hands made a few more gestures. 

 

‘What do you think of her?’

 

“She's extraordinary for a girl her age. A bit hyperactive, but shouldn't be a cause of trouble for our mission. She just needs a bit more refinement and she will be an excellent huntress.” I responded, and Neo's heterochromatic eyes trained back onto me. Her hands made a different gesture again, which was dangerous, since she held a cleaver in one hand. 

 

‘You know that's not what I mean.’

 

“I think she's cute.” I smiled. Neo was as perceptive as usual, her mind as sharp as the blades she wore in her belt. “But that's all. We will be good friends in the future, I hope.”

 

Neo looked at me, her eyes trying to sense a lie. When she couldn't find any trace of a lie, she smiled, satisfied, before pointing to her lips, tapping them once. No need to know sign language to know what she wanted.

 

“We are in a public place. I'm not giving you a kiss.” I asserted as firmly as possible, considering the fact I was hanging in a very uncomfortable position from a chain. 

 

Neo made another gesture. ‘You aren't in a position to bargain.’

 

I smirked. It seemed that everyone was using that line on me today. First Qrow, then Coco. And now Neo. But this time I didn't mind. I leaned over, puckering my lips. Neo smiled and leaned in for the kiss. 

 

When she got close enough, I pulled a cleaver off her belt before she could react, and cut off both the concrete block tied to my legs by the ropes. The blocks fell on the ground, sending cracks through the brickwork. The chain around my other hand came off next, and I dropped, landing on the balls of my feet. 

 

“Better luck next time, kiddo.” I smirked, handing the cleaver back to Neo, who pouted, frowning. She looked so adorable when she was frowning, I had to grin. 

 

“Come here.” I pulled her in my arms and kissed her suddenly, making her shudder and squirm. I had to crane my neck abit, since I was roughly six feet and she barely made it over four. When my lips pressed against her softer ones, her eyes widened in surprise. It was an innocent kiss, not a long, drawn out one. When I was finished, we both stood, awkwardly like a bunch of teenagers, our faces scarlet with embarrassment. Neo looked at me, and her eyes asked a simple question:

 

‘Why?’

 

“Because I love you, dummy.” I muttered, blushing and looking away, unable to meet her gaze. “I don't want to kiss you just because I'm chained to a wall. I want to kiss you because I want to, get it? ” 

 

Neo smiled, and gently nuzzled me. I put my arm around her, flushing slightly, but kinda happy. She was a psychopath, no doubt about that. She had violent compulsions, got bored easily, had no conscience whatsoever, and had zero to little social tact. But she was my psychopath, and that was all that mattered. She would always be there to save me when the situation went bad. And she would always be there to love me, no matter what sins I committed. 

 

We stood like that for a long time, holding each other in the dim room. I was adamant about this whole thing at first, because from experience, relationships in a team tend to destroy it. But when she was in my arms, I wished I could have an eternity with her, just holding her like this. 

 

But as we all know, eternity doesn't exist. 

  
  



	8. Orange

“.. And so basically, while you and Ms. Adel were having a little tea party, Neo and I had to steal Crescent Rose, my coat and Melodic Cudgel from an ever vigilant Yatsuhashi, cut off my bindings and fight through a hallway of well armed guards.” I finished, a pout on my face as I filled Ruby on basically what had happened in the last half hour. Ruby stayed silent, which was odd. She was dressed in a new outfit, tighter black trousers, with a red cape, like Qrow. On the side of her hip, a small black rose was pinned to the belt, one of Coco’s styles. 

Neo nudge me with her elbow. I smirked. “OK fine, Neo did most of that stuff.”

I was less than happy about the whole arrangements. Coco casually tries to kill and slit off my face, that's fine, and suddenly she takes a shine to Ruby and invites her into her house, while she leaves me hanging in some sort of underground sex dungeon. Talk about biased treatment. On the bright side, I could have been a lot worse than I was right now. For example, my jacket could have been torn. 

I smirked and looked out the window. Coco had at least the hospitality to put us in a premium taxi before sending us off to the train station. I wondered how hospitable she would be once she realised me and Neo flooded both toilets in the front lobby by jamming garbage down every bowl. It was a small, petty vengeance, but I took what I could get. 

We would reach the station by two. I could probably convince the two train operators to trade two first-class tickets for three second-class tickets. Maybe three first-class tickets if I pointed Melodic Cudgel at the smarter one. 

I looked across at Ruby, who was staying as silent as Neo. She wasn't the hyperactive girl I met an hour back. Something must have affected her. And I suspected it was something Adel told her. My fist involuntary clenched around Melodic Cudgel, and Neo immediately put her hand on my shoulder, calming me down. 

“Re- Ruby.” I decided, looking at the small girl, who looked back at me with her silver eyes, unsure of how to look at me anymore. “You alright? What did Coco and you speak about?” I tried a grin, pretending as if I didn't know any better. 

A shadow crossed Red’s face, and my grip on Melodic Cudgel tightened. I could imagine Coco’s neck under my hands, slowly being squeezed as I choked the life out of her. 

“Nothing. I'm just a little tired.” Ruby smiled, lying. She was smart, that Ruby. But she was a horrible liar. I exchanged looks with Neo. I had no idea how to proceed. Neo made three swift hand gestures. 

‘Call her bluff.’

“Ruby. I think as a team, we need to get all our doubts out in the open. Are you sure that you have nothing to discuss with us?” I asked, tenderly. Maybe I was reading her body language wrongly. No need for her to know too much information about my past misdemeanours. Neo rolled her eyes. She was a straightforward kind of girl, in contrast to my whimsical, beat about the bush personality. 

“.. N.. No.” Red hesitated, and my suspicions were confirmed. 

“Are you sure You and Coco didn't talk about me and Neo while you were having tea?” Ruby stifled a gasp, and I locked onto her silver eyes, my green irises piercing into her soul. I had that effect on people if I needed to. It was a technique I picked up from years of being around Ozpin and Qrow. I couldn't make people feel real fear like Qrow or Ozpin, who could make grown men shit themselves just by giving a good glare, but I had enough to get me through. 

“H.. How did you know?”

“I had a feeling.” I tapped my nose. Neo snorted from beside me, unimpressed. I shot a playful glare at her, and she smirked. “What did you talk about?”

“Your.. Your past..” My grip on Melodic Cudgel tightened even more, making my knuckles become white with rage. I kept my face even. 

“What about it?” my voice betrayed no hint of my rage. Ruby was terrified of me enough already. I didn't need her to be any more frightened of me. 

“About.. About how you tried to kill Velvet.”

“Is that all?”

“Ye.. Yes.” I looked at Ruby carefully, and she shrunk back. She was hiding something else, but I didn't press the matter. I could have shouted at her to spill it, but I resisted the urge to do so. I didn't want to scare her before the mission even started. 

“Do you want me to explain why I did that?” I asked patiently. Ruby nodded her head, after thinking for a split second. 

“It was sixteen years back.” I sighed, looking out the car window, acting like a detective from a French noir. Neo rolled her eyes again. I ignored her again. “Coco was eighteen. Velvet sixteen. I was twenty-one.” I took out a cigarette, and lit it with Melodic Cudgel, letting the vanilla scent fill my lungs. The taxi driver made a grunt, and was looking like he was going to complain, up until I pointed Melodic Cudgel at his head. He looked away. 

“I was working with your uncle Qrow back then. We were still…” I pondered. What were we? Colleagues? Friends? Something in between? 

“Point is, he didn't hate me as much as he did now. So that's another thing altogether.” I took a long puff of my cigarette. “We were hired to kill Velvet. Qrow immediately objected. He was an assassin, not a murderer. I on the other hand, was down for killing a few helpless children, as long as I got the money.”

Ruby's face looked paler and paler as I told the story. Neo wrinkled her nose at the smell of my cigarette, and I stubbed it out. 

“Did I know I was trying to kill Coco’s fiance?” I sighed, putting the half used joint away. “Nope. But it was my fault for being so careless. I should have checked the background of the seemingly ordinary sixteen year old I was planning to kill.”

“So the rest is how you know it. Coco somehow caught wind of the plan, and appeared, managing to stop me in the nick of time by grabbing me and throwing me through a few buildings.” I winced. I had to wear a full body cast for the next three months. 

“Coco and I had been friends, or something close to that before the incident.” I continued, and Ruby stared at me, her innocent mercury eyes looking at me, making me feel oddly guilty. “So I was less than happy about my employers lying to me. I wouldn't have accepted the job if I had knew. I demanded Cinder reveal the information. It was one of the few times we actually shouted and had an argument.”

“When I was healed, I went to each of them, and killed them personally. They were all managers of smaller brands that Coco had manage to oust out of the market, and the only way they could see to hurt her or maybe threaten her to back out of their markets was to threaten to kill her fiance. Of course, Coco isn't the sort of girl that pushes over easily, so they called me in.”

I looked out the window. We were nearing the station. 

“And so, I killed all of them. I cut off all four of their heads afterwards, and mailed it in a package to Coco as a peace offering. Little did I know, Velvet had already moved in with Coco, and was.. Less than pleased about decapitated heads on their doorstep.” I chuckled, remembering when Qrow told me about what happened. 

“That doesn't really justify why you thought it was okay to kill a sixteen year old girl.” Ruby finally said, her voice cracking. 

“It was sixty thousand dollars.” I replied coolly. “Money is money.”

“No it isn't!!” Ruby shouted back at me, and the Taxi driver growled, less than happy about the shouting match in his back seat. I pointed my cane at the back of his head, and smirked. 

“Keep driving, you.” I turned back to Ruby, who looked indignant about the way I was treating the driver. “It is what it is. Let's not forget, it was a dog eat dog world back then. People didn't matter to me back then.”

Ruby gestured to my cane, which was pointing at the driver. “And they do now to you? I'm fifteen. Would you have killed me for enough money? How much can you change?”

“More than I liked to admit, more than you would ever know.”

“Coco said you were a sociopath.”

“She's right.” I replied coolly, keeping my green eyes even, not spilling a drop of rage. “I don't have a care about human lives. I don't have a shred of conscience in me. In fact,” I swiveled the cane to her, pointing it at her head. She tensed up, her hands immediately moving to her hips, grabbing at Crescent Rose. Except it wasn't there anymore. Neo held it in her hands, managing to grab the retracted scythe in the split second she saw me move Melodic Cudgel. 

“ I could blow your brains out in this car right now. I could saw off your head after putting you through a series of mind boggling tortures, each more painful than the last. And I still wouldn't feel anything.” I wasn't trying I scare her. It was just a fact. I could do it, and I wouldn't feel anything. “But we have to do a mission together. Once we are done, we will never have to cross paths again.” I nodded at Neo, who passed Red back her scythe. 

“You are a monster.” The girl clad in black hissed, her silver eyes wide and indignant. “How do you sleep at night?”

I looked out the window, and saw the train station. As the trains passed me by, I was reminded of how fleeting the events of life were. Just less than an hour ago, I had been chained to a wall and almost cut open by a fashionista. I snuck a glance at Ruby, who was looking at me, her eyes no longer looking at me with the gentle light it once had. Now, she just looked at me like everyone but Neo did. Like I was just a criminal. 

When the car pulled to a stop, I got out, holding the door open for Neo, who smiled, snuggling against me. I smiled and patted her head, making our way to the ticket concourse, without waiting for Ruby. It took all my self control not to get back into a taxi and drive back to Coco. My hands tightened around Neo's shoulder, imagining Coco’s bones giving way and snapping under my fingers. 

It wasn't the torture. I was fine with being beaten up here and there. But the whole issue lied in the fact that she turned Ruby against me. Within a few hours, the smiling girl I had once seen, who talked to me like a friend, was now looking at me like a rabid hound. 

I threw a glance at Ruby, who was looking around the Train station, her curious smile on her face. It was the same smile that she had given me before we visited Coco. I looked away. Maybe I asked for too much. It pissed me off, but maybe, just maybe, I deserve the treatment I was receiving. I looked at Neo, and smiled, pretending everything was alright. 

I don't sleep at night. I just close my eyes.


	9. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiatus due to writers block. I'm mostly over it now, I suppose.

He wasn't talking to me. 

I looked at the two of them on front of me, from the orange headed man with a long fringe, and the quiet small girl who was next to him, making conversation via hand signs. Roman looked away from me, smiling and chatting with Neo. I looked out the window. The scenery of vale, with its white washed walls and green grass had slowly blended off, turning more and more barren and run down as the train continued on. 

I took a small pamphlet from the side of the first class carriage, and slowly scanned it, trying to ignore the two of them. The brochure said that Vacuo was famous for its arts and architecture, like stone statues, paintings, and glass carvings. Which was a bit strange, considering the harsh environment it had, compiled with the deathstalker nests. 

I took a glance over the brochure, looking at the two lovebirds, who were getting closer and closer as the journey continued. I didn't know much about Neo, but Coco had warned me that she was an extremely violent individual. No matter how cute she looked, with her ice-cream coloured hair, and her four foot height, she was a monster in girl's clothing. 

Neo’s leg was already resting on Torchwick's thighs. Any closer, and she would be seating on his lap. I winced, uncomfortable. 

“I'm going to the toilet.” I stood up, leaving the carriage. Those were the only words I had said to Roman in the last two hours. Roman nodded, and when I walked out of the personalised carriage, I heard the door lock behind me. I took a glance back, and the shades had already been drawn, preventing any passerby from seeing inside. I sighed, taking a stroll down the first class section of the train. 

The affluence I saw in the last four hours was something I had never actually seen before in my life. I had spent most of my time in the countryside, using my free time to kill random grimm that passed by our house. This was a different world apart, a different lifetime apart. 

I passed the toilet, looking at the train carriages. People sat, chatting away, laughing happily. That was me two hours ago. I thought I was going on some fun filled adventure. But after learning the truth about Roman, the mood felt different. Now I just felt alone. I didn't feel endangered. Just disappointed and let down by the once friendly man I had almost trusted. I walked down the corridors, not knowing what to feel. Maybe I should apologise to Roman when I got back. So what if he was a sociopath? I shouldn't see him any different than I did back in the bar. 

But then again, a nagging part of my mind told me to be careful around him. It was a primal instinct underlying my subconscious, the voice that whispered to me at night, warning me of monsters under my bed. For some reason, Uncle Qrow, who was super chill around everybody hated his guts. That was a pretty good warning sign. Also, apart from Neo, who was a serial killer, Torchwick didn't seem to have many associates that didn't want to kill him. 

I was so caught up in my own thoughts, I barely noticed the change in background, as the green became more and more dirt filled, running into a desert. I also barely noticed the young man turning the corner in front of me. Until I bumped into him, spilling whatever drink he had onto the chest of the other man behind him. 

“Aww, Sun!!” The slender youth moaned, annoyed, as yellow streaks ran down his burgduny hoodie. “What the fuck, dude!!” 

“Yellow is a nice colour on you, though.” The blonde haired faunus I just bumped into chuckled. From closer inspection, he was part monkey. He was broader than his friend, just wearing a half opened shirt that showed off his abdominal and well defined chest. 

“All colours look nice on me.” His thinner companion ran his hand through his blue hair, grinning. “But that's the last time I buy you a drink.”

“C’mon man. Not cool.”

“Uh..it was my fault-” I stuttered, and the two of them turned to look at me. “I'm.. I'm sorry?”

The two of them looked at each other, before turning away comically, talking occasionally throwing a backwards glance at me. 

“Woah, Nept, she's cute!!”

“Shh. Don't blow it dude.”

The both of them threw a synchronised backward look at me, and for a moment, I wondered why I was being the adult in the situation. I looked at both of them, sizing them up. 

The blonde was thickly built, with muscles that seemed to pop out from every square inch of his skin. He was tan, his sparkling eyes playfully darting around, as if looking to cause whatever mischief it could. 

The blue haired youth, by contrast, looked calm and collected, dressed in a maroon sweater. A pair of golden tinted goggles hung on his forehead. He was slightly more tan than his companion, although his seemed more like he was born that way rather than years in the sun. 

“Anyways..” Sun continued, awkwardly turning over and putting his arm on the side of the wall, leaning against it. It would have been something that could be considered cool, if it wasn't on the side of the toilet door, which opened up, and he fell in head first, sprawling on the floor. He looked up, pieces of toilet paper strewn all over his head and body. “OW.”

“Are you alright down there?” I asked, giggling abit. He was just comedic gold. Like the three stooges. Yang always made me watch their adventures, and she would always guffaw, no matter how overly used their slapstick style of comedy was recycled. 

“My pride has been injured, and the floor is moist.” Sun moaned in pain. His friend sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, pushing his aqua violet fringe back. Holy shit, he was hot. Like supermodel hot. Sun was hot in a next door neighbour kinda way, and Torchwick was hot in a man of mystery kinda way (I mentally kicked myself for thinking that.), and uncle Qrow was.. hot in a hoboish, rugged kinda way. But Neptune's type of hotness was similar to Coco’s. They knew they were hot, and weren't scared to flaunt it to their advantage. 

“I'm Neptune.” He greeted me, and I felt my face warm up. “And this is my best buddy and twin brother, Sun.”

“I'm Ruby. Ruby rose.” I replied, trying to meet his eyes. I wasn't good with this whole conversation thing. I wasn't good with this conversation thing at all. That was Yang’s thing. I was the quiet type. 

“So, what brings a cute girl like you to a dump like Vacuo?” Neptune continued, casually taking off a roll of toilet paper from Sun's head and wiping the yellow stain off his maroon jacket. He was probably the only person who could do that while looking cool. 

“Uh..” I thought about the two sociopaths who were waiting for me back in my train carriage. We had already been gassed in the first few hours. Anyone could technically be our enemies, from taxi drivers, to the two twins in front of us. “I'm there to meet a relative.”

“A relative?” Sun asked, perking up as he cleaned himself off. I quickly looked at him. Sun seemed like he bought my story. Neptune seemed more wary, but if he could find a fault with my story, he didn't say. I guessedv he was the brain of the operations, and Sun with all his muscles was the brawn. 

“Yeah. My uncle works there. He does tapestry weaving.”

“Cool. What's his name?” Neptune asked, looking at me casually. His eyes were piercing me though, and he knew that I was lying. 

I froze up. 

“Armani.” I blurted out, getting inspiration from a passerby who walked through the cabin, his horrendous yellow shirt flashing past me like a beacon of inspiration. “Armani Yellow.”

“Cool name!!” Sun yelped enthusiasticly, and Neptune elbowed him. 

Neptune glared at me. “Position B.”

The mood had changed drastically. Neptune was looking at me, his hand in his jacket, pretending to be cool. His other hand lingered at his waist. I recognise that body posture anywhere. He was suspicious. He was getting ready to either draw his weapon and slash at me in a blink of an eye, or act like nothing happened. He was sizing me up first. I readied myself, one hand lingering on crescent rose. If he tried anything, I would cut him into ribbons before he could even react. Even Sun sensed it, his good nature melting away. His eyes hardened, and I immediately regretted lying. They hadn't bumped into me on purpose. 

Sun slid behind me, so swiftly and quietly I didn't think it was possible. He seemed to disappear from thin air, and reappear behind me, sealing off my exit. 

“There seems to be a mistake-” I tried, looking at the both of them pleadingly. I shouldn't have wandered off. I should have stayed in the cabin with Roman and Neo. I didn't trust them, but at least they were there to protect me. Now I was surrounded, my escape route cut off. The twins were sizing me up, deciding the best way to take me down. 

“Ms. Rose, if that's who you say you are.” Neptune took out a pair of handcuffs. “I'm going to put these on you. And you are going to come with me and Sun.”

“Excuse me-”

“You are under arrest!!” Sun exclaimed, his hands on the handle of his weapon. “By the junior detectives.” He whipped out a shiny badge, with the initials JD inscribed on the frame. 

“Not now, Sun..” Neptune sighed, exasperated. “But you are under arrest, though. Try to activate your semblance, it won't do you any good. We've cornered you.” I gulped, a nervous sweat flowing down my back. I didn't know if I could take them on. Maybe if Neptune was alone, I could finish him in a second. But Sun was there. I couldn't take both of them on. I didn't know their weapons, or their semblances. All I could do was raise my hands up. 

“Good girl.. Or man.. Or boy.. I don't know man.” Sun stammered, much to his partner’s chagrin. “I don't know man. It looks like a girl to me-”

“Excuse you, I am a girl-”

“Anything and everything you say will be used against you.” Neptune replied curtly, readying the handcuffs. “You will be read your rights in your cell.” He looked at me. “Please turn around, and put your hands behind you back.”

“Or what?”

“Or we will make you.” Neptune took out his weapon, and it extended from the small staff, into a long Chinese style saber. I quickly looked around the corner, trying to see if anybody was going to burst in so I could escape. They couldn't attack me if there were witnesses. 

“Don't even bother looking for people.” Neptune replied coolly, readying his weapon. “I already locked the electronic door of the trains by interfering with the algorithm. Even if they tried to open the doors by manually tampering with the wires, the doors would be sealed.”

I looked around, trying to find an opening. Maybe if I used my semblance, I could punch through the door. It would hurt, but I wouldn't be arrested by these fake cops. They were probably going to bring me to an offset location at Vacuo, and dump my body in a trash compactor or something. 

“Keep you hands in the air. Turn around, then put them out so I can handcuff you.” Neptune ordered. I hesitated. I already had a plan. I was going to make him come to me. His weapon was a two handed saber. He couldn't put the handcuffs on me, and use the weapon at the same time. When he came close enough, I would disarm him, and immediately rush out of the cabin, using my semblance to punch through the door. Also, at close distance, I was in the arc of the saber. He couldn't wield it effectively at that range. Purposefully, I kept my hands up, making sure he had to come to me.

In that split second, I realised the flaw in my plan. I had underestimated Sun. 

“Got her, partner.” The monkey faunus appeared behind me before I could even react, his strong hands pinning and grabbing me by my wrists. I yelped, struggling, trying to twist free, but his grip was like iron. “She ain't going anywhere.”

“Get off me!!” I cried helplessly, pulling and tugging at the tan hand that held me. Neptune closed in, and passed handcuffs around my left wrist. I felt the cold handcuff click shut, tightening uncomfortably around my arm, and I felt my semblance shut down, preventing me from using my super speed to burst free. Neptune grabbed my other hand, forcing me to put my wrists together. “Stop resisting-”

“Get off her, before I kill the both of you.” A smooth, velvety voice whispered out from behind our scuffle. We all turned around in unison, and I saw Roman Torchwick, standing behind us in all his glory, looking pissed off as hell, like somebody just kicked his dog. 

I would never say it, but I was glad Roman was here. Relieved, in fact. I almost sang and dance in happiness. I wanted nothing more than to hug the orange haired man in front of me. His emerald eyes scanned the two detectives, sizing them up. 

“Who the hell are you two?” He snarled, putting a thin cigarette in his mouth and lighting it up, ignoring the no smoking sign behind his head, filling the air with the smell of menthol. Typical torchwick. “Give me a reason why I shouldn't just break your legs for manhandling my ward.”

The two twins looked at each other, before looking back at Roman. Roman fixed them with a piercing glare that would have made grown men cry. It was a wonder that both of them were even able to stand properly right now. 

“She's.. She's your ward?” Neptune asked. He seemed really unsure about himself though, his earlier confidence gone. Something flashed in his eyes though, but it quickly dissipated. Suspicion. His mind was wrecking and processing all the information at one go. He was sizing up Roman, and at the same time, trying to tell if he was lying. 

“I don't know who the fuck you think you two are, but you are going to unlock the doors, and the handcuffs, before I put you in a full body cast for the rest of your miserable lives.” Roman tapped melodic cudgel on the floor, annoyed and ready to kill a pair of fake detectives. 

A heavy silence sat in the passageway. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Anytime now, a fight would break out. I could feel the hairs on my body stand, my body breaking out into goospeimples. It was the calm before the storm. It was as if there was an inescapable prophecy that predicted that somebody was going to die in this cabin. All that mattered was who. 

Neptune hesitated, looking at Sun, who looked as confused as him. After a moment of heavy silence, Neptune undid the handcuffs, and freed my wrists. I immediately darted over to Roman, who glared at them, making them quiver. 

“Doors.” He said. Neptune snapped his fingers, and a hiss echoed out from the door behind us, indicating the door had been released. Roman turned, grabbing me by my hand. I threw a glance at the two men who had tried to kill me, before looking back at Roman. 

“Purple.” Neptune said suddenly, looking at Roman. Roman paused at the door, which was open. He looked back, at the blue haired youth. I turned around, looking at the twin, confused. 

“Purple.” Neptune insisted, looking at Roman. 

“What's he saying, Roman?” I asked, looking at torchwick, who suddenly seemed a bit paler and worried than when he first rescued me. Roman looked at me. 

“I have no idea. Let's go.” He turned his back on the two of them, and we left the cabin. We walked past the first class passenger cabins. Everybody was tired and drowsy, especially after the two hour trip with a heavy lunch. They all dozed off, a few passengers had their mouths open, some resting against the windows, or the tables, drooling slightly. I chucked slightly, following Roman. Yang would do that all the time as well during buffets. She would destroy the place then promptly fall into a food coma, awakening in a few hours time. Her record was sleeping for an entire day, after clearing out the entire seafood and condiment section of a buffet. Not even uncle Qrow and Dad drawing dicks and cartoon graffiti on her face and arms with a permanent marker woke her up. 

The last cabin to my left caught my eye. I noticed it was strangely empty. There had been people there. I remembered seeing a family laughing and giggling a few minutes earlier. Now all that was left were their empty food bowls and the kid's toys. 

Roman continued walking like it was nobody's business. I didn't push the point, so I quickly followed him. It was weird, but maybe they all just decided to explore the train like I did. I just trusted Roman, following him back to our cabin. 

I noticed something odd. Everytime melodic cudgel tapped the floor, instead of a metallic sound like the barrel of a gun hitting the floor of the train, there wasn't any sound. It was like Roman wasn't even using the cane to walk. I didn't know all the secrets about his cane, but I quickly made a mental note to observe and analyse it the next time I was give the chance. Maybe using it as a proper cane damaged the barrel, or something. 

“You look thirsty, Ruby.” Roman smiled gently, as he walked next to me. “I guess those two idiots really scared you, huh?”

“I wasn't scared.” I lied. “I could take them on.”

“It's no shame to admit you need help, kiddo.” Roman smirked. “They would have cut you up and threw you in a backstreet dumpster, if I know people form Vacuo well enough. And I do. My first girlfriend was from Vacuo. She was a cold hearted bitch, but damn, that ass.” 

“Gross!!” I laughed, and he chucked along with me. “Don't let Neo hear you say that.”

“Remind me never to let you leave my sight again, Rubes.” Roman chuckled good naturedly, as if our fight never happened. He patted me on my head, and I pouted. He laughed, and extinguished his thin cigarette on the side of a wall, flicking it into a nearby trash bin.

“Qrow would beat my ass if anything happened to you.” He laughed, and I grinned. Then stopped. Something was off. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Something just wasn't right. 

Rubes? 

From inside my pocket, my scroll buzzed. 

I took it out from the corner of my pocket, quietly scanning it. It was a new message from Roman. 

Torch Daddy : “Where r u?”

My heart froze. Time seemed to draw to a stop. I quietly put my scroll back into my pocket. My instincts were kicking in, telling me to do so. It was a strange emotion, more primal and intuitive, than intelligent and rational. Fear. From the side of my eye, I saw Roman look at me carefully, his gaze never leaving me. He was watching me like a hawk. I forced myself to steady my breath, pretending nothing was wrong. When everything in fact, was. Everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The twins had been the good guys. They just got the wrong guy. 

Suddenly, everything added up, and the sudden realisation, on top of the fact that I couldn't do anything was excruciating. I knew the whole picture, but I couldn't do anything but continue walking. 

“Is something wrong?” Roman asked me innocently, his voice smooth and velvety, like a silk noose tightened around my neck. I wanted to scream, yes. But I couldn't. Not to him. My throat dried up. 

The twins were arguing about my gender earlier. It seemed like Sun was being stupid at first. But what if they were hunting down somebody that had an ambiguous gender? Or better yet, someone who could change his or her gender, or his or her appearance?

How did torchwick know I was in trouble, and how did he get inside a sealed carriage without a semblance? Torchwick didn't smoke menthol green cigarettes. He smoke thick cigars, which filled the room with a vanilla scent. And he most certainly didn't call me Rubes. 

“Everything's fine.” I lied through my teeth. My heart was losing in my chest, and it took all my effort to walk down the hallway with Roman, acting like everything was normal. “Just got a message from Yang. She's sends her regards.”

“Is that so? Tell her I said thanks.” The orange haired man laughed. I chuckled weakly. We continued walking, and he continued to watch me like a shark moving in for the kill from the corner of his eyes. I had no choice, but to continue to walk down the carriage, with the man who wasn't Roman Torchwick walking alongside me.


End file.
